Ventiva Unveils Ionic Cooling Reference Designs for AI and Edge at CES 2026
January 7, 2026
As the demand for artificial intelligence workloads pushes data center power densities to new extremes, the industry's search for more efficient and targeted cooling solutions has intensified. Against this backdrop, Ventiva, a California-based cooling technology firm, has introduced a novel approach that could reshape thermal management for both large-scale facilities and compact devices.
The company publicly debuted its new reference designs for a zoned air cooling architecture at the CES 2026 trade show in Las Vegas this week. The system is engineered to serve a broad spectrum of applications, from AI data centers and edge computing systems down to end-user devices like laptops. At its core, the technology utilizes ionic cooling—a method that employs electrostatic fields to generate airflow without traditional moving parts like fans—to create micro-channeled airflow directed precisely at heat-generating components such as CPUs, GPUs, and memory modules.
Ventiva claims this "zoned cooling" methodology allows designers to reclaim valuable space on motherboards and within device chassis by reducing reliance on bulky mechanical components. The company positions the technology as an augmentative solution that can work alongside existing liquid cooling systems in hybrid data center environments, potentially improving overall rack density and system design.
"The thermal demands of AI workloads require a fundamental rethinking of cooling architecture," said Carl Schlachte, Chairman, President, and CEO of Ventiva. "Our zoned cooling approach represents a meaningful step forward. By cooling only where it’s needed, designers can simplify internal layouts, enabling thinner, quieter devices with fewer tradeoffs."
The debut at one of the world's premier technology exhibitions signals Ventiva's push to move ionic wind cooling from a niche concept toward broader commercial adoption. While several other vendors are exploring similar plasma-based cooling technologies, Ventiva's presentation of ready-to-implement reference designs aims to lower the barrier for hardware manufacturers to integrate this targeted cooling capability into their next-generation products.
Source: datacenterdynamics
