Is Carbon Nanotube the Next Big Thing in Data Center Thermal Design?

Data centers are entering unfamiliar territory. What once operated as predictable environments built around steady enterprise workloads now run at the edge of physical feasibility. Artificial intelligence has reshaped the hardware landscape and driven power densities to levels that strain every layer of infrastructure. Modern AI racks consume ten to thirty times more power than systems deployed only a decade ago. As a result, heat now defines performance limits, reliability thresholds, and operating costs. This shift has elevated thermal design from a supporting function to a strategic priority. Cooling decisions influence facility layout, hardware selection, maintenance planning, and long-term scalability. Against this backdrop, carbon nanotubes are moving from abstract research into practical consideration. Their ability to address persistent thermal bottlenecks places them firmly in discussions about how future data centers will operate.