Huawei is betting that the future of AI infrastructure will depend as much on energy systems as on computing power
Updated
May 19, 2026 5:43 PM
Blue light painting with a lightbulb. PHOTO: UNSPLASH
As AI companies build larger models and deploy more AI agents, the industry is running into a new constraint: electricity. The challenge is no longer just about computing power. It is increasingly about how to supply, manage and sustain the energy needed to run AI infrastructure at scale.
That was the central argument behind Huawei’s latest AI data center strategy unveiled at its Global AIDC Industry Summit in Dongguan.
The company introduced what it calls a grid-interactive AIDC strategy, focused on redesigning AI data centers around power supply, cooling systems and energy management. AIDC refers to AI data centers built specifically for large-scale AI computing workloads.
The announcement reflects a broader shift happening across the industry. As AI systems grow larger, data centers are consuming more electricity and generating more heat than traditional computing infrastructure was designed to handle. Companies are now being forced to rethink not just chips and servers, but the physical systems supporting them.
Huawei argues that future AI infrastructure will need closer coordination between computing systems and energy grids. The company says traditional data center designs are struggling to keep up with fluctuating AI workloads, rising power density and the growing use of renewable energy sources.
Hou Jinlong, Director of the Board of Huawei and President of Huawei Digital Power, said: "The booming AI industry, widely adopted large models, and numerous AI agents are creating huge energy demands, set to boost the global AIDC capacity. Electricity is essential for computing; energy is the foundation for AI long-term development. Computing and electricity will deeply synergize and empower each other, progressively building an integrated framework that brings together new power systems and AI infrastructure."
A large part of Huawei’s strategy focuses on power architecture. AI workloads can create sudden spikes in electricity demand, especially in high-density computing environments. To manage that, Huawei says it plans to develop new power systems that combine grid-friendly UPS infrastructure with energy storage technologies.
Cooling is becoming another major pressure point. AI servers generate significantly more heat than traditional enterprise systems and Huawei says liquid cooling is now becoming essential for large-scale AI deployments. The company introduced a liquid cooling system designed to improve long-term thermal management inside high-density AI environments.
Huawei is also pushing modular construction methods to reduce deployment times for AI data centers. Instead of building infrastructure entirely onsite, parts of the system can be prefabricated and tested in factories before installation.
Bob He, Vice President of Huawei Digital Power, said: "The global AI industry is booming, and the token demand surges. As such, the AIDC industry is entering the Token era."
As part of that shift, Huawei introduced a proposed measurement system called the TokEnergy Index. The company says the metric is designed to measure the relationship between energy consumption and AI computing output, rather than relying only on traditional data center efficiency metrics such as PUE.
The broader message behind the strategy is that AI infrastructure is becoming an energy engineering problem as much as a computing problem. As global demand for AI continues to rise, companies across the sector are beginning to realise that the future of AI may depend not only on better models, but also on whether power grids and data centers can keep up with them.
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Inside Mercuryo’s Visa Partnership
Updated
February 10, 2026 11:18 PM
Close up of Visa credit cards. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
Mercuryo is a fintech startup that builds the infrastructure to enable money to move seamlessly between crypto and traditional banking systems. In simple terms, it works on the problem of turning digital assets into usable cash.
As more people hold crypto through wallets and exchanges, one practical issue keeps arising: how do you actually withdraw that money and use it in the real world? For many users, converting tokens into local currency is still slow, confusing or expensive. That gap between “owning” crypto and being able to spend it is where Mercuryo operates.
The company’s latest step forward is a partnership with Visa to improve what is known as “off-ramping” — the process of converting crypto into fiat currency like dollars or euros. Until now, this has often been slow, expensive and confusing for users. Mercuryo is using Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time payments system, to make that process faster and more direct.
With this integration, users can convert their digital tokens into local currency and send the money straight to a Visa debit or credit card. The transaction happens through systems that already power global card payments, which means the money can arrive in near real time instead of days later.
Technically, this connects two very different worlds. On one side is blockchain-based crypto, which moves value on decentralised networks. On the other side is the traditional payment system, which runs on banks, cards and regulated rails. Mercuryo’s platform sits between the two and handles the conversion and movement of funds.
Instead of users leaving their wallet or exchange to cash out, Mercuryo allows the conversion to happen inside the apps and platforms they already use. The user does not need to understand the plumbing behind it. They just see that crypto becomes spendable money on their card.
This matters because access is what makes any financial system usable. If people cannot easily move their money, they treat it as locked or risky. Faster off-ramps make digital assets more practical, not just speculative.
Mercuryo’s work is not about creating new tokens or trading tools. It is about building the pipes that let money move smoothly between Web3 and the traditional financial world. The Visa partnership strengthens those pipes by using a global, trusted payments network that already works at scale.
Visa also framed the partnership as a bridge between systems. Anastasia Serikova, Head of Visa Direct, Europe, said: "By leveraging Visa Direct's capabilities, Mercuryo is not only making converting to fiat faster, simpler and more accessible than ever—it's building bridges between the crypto space and the traditional financial system. This integration empowers users to seamlessly convert digital assets into fiat in near real time, creating a more connected and convenient payment experience".
Over time, this kind of infrastructure is what determines whether crypto remains niche or becomes part of everyday finance. Not through headlines, but through systems that quietly reduce friction.
Mercuryo’s direction is clear: make digital assets easier to use, easier to exit and easier to connect to the money systems people already rely on.