H.R. 5332

119th CONGRESS 1st Session

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a technology assessment focused on liquid-cooling systems for artificial-intelligence compute clusters and high-performance computing facilities, require the development of Federal Government-wide best-practice guidance for Federal agencies, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES · September 11, 2025 · Sponsor: Mr. Obernolte

Table of contents

• H.R. 5332
  • SEC. 1. Short title and purpose
  • SEC. 2. Findings
  • SEC. 3. Liquid cooling deployment and scalability

SEC. 1. Short title and purpose

• This Act may be cited as the Liquid Cooling for AI Act of 2025.

SEC. 2. Findings

• Congress finds the following:
  • The 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report published by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory indicates that data centers accounted for 4.4 percent of total United States electricity consumption in 2023, up from 1.9 percent in 2018. The report further projects that data centers could represent between 6.7 percent and 12.8 percent of total electricity consumption by 2028, due to the rapid growth of AI, cloud computing, and other digital technologies.
  • Traditional air-cooled systems are reaching limits to effectively remove heat from AI chips and hardware, and liquid cooling enhanced thermal performance is increasingly becoming a necessity for high-density AI servers and data centers due to the growing power consumption and heat generation of AI workloads.
  • Liquid‑cooling technologies, including direct‑to‑chip (DTC) liquid cooling and single‑phase or two‑phase immersion cooling, can improve thermal performance, enable higher densities, and reduce cooling system load when properly engineered and maintained.
  • Effective liquid‑cooling deployments require interoperable components and engineered subsystems, including coolant distribution units, secondary loops, manifolds, hoses, quick‑disconnects, valves, pumps, filters, leak detection and containment, corrosion control, and appropriate instrumentation and controls.
  • Interfaces for heat‑reuse are integral to liquid systems and can reduce thermal load on heat‑rejection equipment by transferring heat through plate heat exchangers or other devices to beneficial secondary uses where technically appropriate.
  • Federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, are considering the deployment of AI systems across government-owned facilities.
  • A comprehensive, independent assessment of emerging data center architectures and cooling technologies is essential to inform efficient and cost-effective deployment decisions across the Federal Government.

SEC. 3. Liquid cooling deployment and scalability

• (a) GAO review
  • Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall initiate a review of the research and development needs, and the related market, technological, and regulatory conditions, affecting liquid cooling utilization by data centers.
• (b) Elements
  • The review required under subsection (a) shall include the following:
    • An evaluation of liquid cooling research and development needs, and the costs and benefits for high performance computing.
    • A description of avoided costs of energy, including deferred and avoided new electric transmission and infrastructure upgrades and associated costs.
    • A description of increased compute capacity by enabling more energy to be used for computing workloads rather than cooling.
    • A survey and analysis of existing research on the positive and negative effects of liquid cooling on computing performance, resiliency, and cybersecurity.
    • An assessment of market trends and adoption rates of liquid cooling in United States data centers over the past five years.
    • A comparison of direct‑to‑chip (DTC) liquid cooling and immersion cooling approaches across representative density bands, including relating to thermal performance, maintainability, interoperability, safety, failure modes, and lifecycle cost.
    • An evaluation of coolant options, including water, water‑glycol, and engineered fluids, materials compatibility, corrosion control, bio growth mitigation, filtration, deaeration, and fluid monitoring and management.
    • Recommendations relating to whether liquid cooling should be considered as a primary cooling option over air cooling due to the thermal conditions of computing components in servers within data centers.
    • Development of reference architectures and layouts for rack, row, and room‑level liquid distribution by density band and cooling approach.
    • A survey of existing opportunities for reusing waste heat produced by data centers.
    • An evaluation of failure scenarios (such as pump failures or fluid leaks) and mitigation strategies, especially in shared co-location environments.
• (c) Requirements
  • (1) Recommendations
    • In preparing the review required under subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall include recommendations, including considerations relating to the following:
      • The Federal Government’s utilization of and ongoing research on liquid cooling technologies.
      • Best practices and industry standards for the design and operation of liquid cooling technologies.
      • Methods to enhance the security, reliability, and resilience of computing equipment and data centers.
      • Methods to accelerate education on operational best practices.
  • (2) Stakeholder input

• With the goal of identifying the best practices and industry standards referred to in paragraph (1)(A), the Comptroller General of the United States shall consult with stakeholders from Federal, State, and local governments, the private sector, academia, and National Laboratories.