Hardware Podcasts

The mechanics of data center flexibility

Catalyst · 28 Aug 2025 · 36m

What this episode covers

Varun Sivaram, founder and CEO of Emerald AI, explains how computational workload orchestration can make data centers flexible assets for the grid. He details the EPRI DCFlex demonstration at an Oracle data center in Phoenix, which achieved a 25% load reduction, and discusses the distinction between training and inference workloads. Sivaram argues that new 'flexibility SLAs' and tools like the Emerald Simulator are required to convince grid operators to rely on this latent capacity, potentially unlocking 98 gigawatts of unused grid infrastructure.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Emerald AI, Oracle, NVIDIA, EPRI, Google, EnergyHub, Anza, TVA, Michigan Power, Salt River Project, Databricks, Open AI
Products
Blackwell, GB 200, GPT 5

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