Alphabet owned Google is in discussions with Chinese company Envicool and other suppliers about purchasing liquid cooling equipment for its data centers, according to sources familiar with a recent visit to China by one of the company procurement teams. Liquid cooling systems circulate water or other fluids around computing hardware to remove heat. These systems are becoming essential in AI data centers because the intense processing required for artificial intelligence produces far more heat than traditional air cooling systems can handle.

Sources said the visit this month by a procurement team from Google Taiwan operations highlights the growing shortage of components used in liquid cooling infrastructure. During the trip, the team met with Envicool and is also expected to hold discussions with at least one other Chinese company. Neither Google nor Shenzhen based Envicool responded to requests for comment.

The talks underline how the global race to expand AI data center infrastructure is tightening supply not only of advanced chips but also of supporting equipment. Despite rising tensions between the United States and China, Chinese suppliers are playing an increasingly important role in meeting global demand for data center technology.

According to a report by JPMorgan, the global market for AI server liquid cooling systems is expected to grow rapidly, reaching more than 17 billion dollars in 2026 compared with about 8.9 billion dollars last year. Demand is being driven by companies such as Nvidia and major cloud providers deploying custom AI chips.

Envicool, founded in 2005 and valued at about 98 billion yuan, reported revenue growth of about 40 percent during the first nine months of the year. The company recently showcased a coolant distribution unit designed to Google specifications and expects liquid cooling orders to continue increasing.