SAN FRANCISCO, CA, July 28, 2026 – The first reference design for running high-density AI workloads on the AMD Helios rack-scale solution is now available, giving data center architects a blueprint for deploying the platform at scale. Schneider Electric and AMD announced the jointly developed design.
Helios combines AMD Instinct MI455X GPUs, 6th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs, AMD Pensando Vulcano NICs, and the open ROCm software ecosystem. The system handles larger, more complex AI workloads by raising compute, interconnect bandwidth, memory capacity, and system-level integration, while managing power draw and thermal demands.
The design covers four technical areas: facility power, facility cooling, IT space, and lifecycle software. By modeling physical infrastructure performance, the design lets architects and operators map out how power, cooling, and IT infrastructure should be organized to handle the densities, thermal loads, and operational demands that come with AI-scale deployments.
“Today organizations require comprehensive, AI-ready reference designs that can take them from planning to deployment faster and with less risk,” said Manish Kumar, executive vice president, secure power & data centers at Schneider Electric. “Through our collaboration with AMD, we’re delivering an engineering-backed reference design that bridges the gap between advanced AI compute platforms, energy tech, and real-world data center implementation, enabling customers to deploy scalable, high-density AI environments with greater confidence, efficiency, and speed.”
“AI infrastructure is rapidly moving to full-scale AI factories, and that requires compute, networking, power and cooling to be designed together from the start,” said Forrest Norrod, executive vice president and general manager, data center solutions business group, AMD. “AMD Helios provides an open, rack-scale architecture built to deliver the performance, efficiency and flexibility required for next-generation AI workloads. By working with Schneider Electric to create a validated reference design, we are giving customers a practical blueprint to accelerate high-density AI deployments, reduce integration risk and scale with greater confidence and efficiency.”
Reference Design Details Power and Cooling for AMD Helios
AMD and Schneider Electric are developing a reference design that combines AMD AI computing systems with Schneider Electric power, cooling and digital infrastructure. The design covers new AI data center construction, including greenfield AI factories, and high-density retrofits of existing facilities. The reference design supports:
- Modular, multi-cluster environments supporting AI clusters with up to 10.4 MW of IT capacity for greenfield deployments
- High-density AI workloads of up to 246 kW per rack
- Liquid-cooling systems using Motivair by Schneider Electric coolant distribution units (CDU) and hybrid air-and-liquid cooling configurations designed to remove up to 84% of generated heat
- Electrical and thermal infrastructure that includes:
- Designs validated with ETAP and EcoStruxure IT Design computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation tools
- Real-time monitoring and analytics across power, cooling and IT systems
- Predictive-maintenance functions based on operational data
- Coordinated management of power, cooling and IT infrastructure
- An electrical digital twin for modeling, analyzing and managing infrastructure performance
- AVEVA Unified Operations Center for real-time monitoring and operational visibility
- Power and cooling infrastructure configured to meet AMD Helios platform requirements
- Full-load power usage effectiveness (PUE) as low as ~1.12 at full load
The reference design is validated to ANSI standards for U.S. deployments. The companies plan to add support for IEC standards for deployments outside the United States.
Source: Schneider Electric
About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric, founded in 1836, is a leader in energy management and automation. Headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison, France, the company delivers digital solutions that integrate energy technologies, real-time automation, software, and services across multiple sectors. Schneider Electric serves many industries, including buildings, data centers, infrastructure, and manufacturing, helping businesses improve efficiency, safety, and sustainability. Its offerings span electrical distribution, industrial automation, and smart grid and digital building technologies. Schneider Electric operates in over 100 countries and has approximately 168,000 employees. Its ecosystem includes over a million partners, making it a key player in delivering scalable, innovative solutions for an electric and digital world.
About AMD
AMD is an American multinational semiconductor company specializing in high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies. AMD designs and manufactures central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), chipsets, and system-on-chip (SoC) solutions, serving industries such as computing, gaming, data centers, and embedded systems. The company’s product portfolio includes desktop and laptop processors, professional graphics cards, and server processors, marketed under brands like Ryzen, Radeon, and EPYC. AMD operates globally in Santa Clara, CA, with significant operations in Austin, TX. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) employs about 30,000 individuals worldwide.