Infineon Technologies is advancing its collaboration with NVIDIA to develop 800V direct-current (DC) power architectures for AI data centres, with gallium nitride (GaN) technology positioned to play a key role in improving power conversion efficiency and density.
Announced alongside NVIDIA’s GTC Berlin developer conference, the latest development focuses on the high-voltage intermediate bus converter (IBC), a critical stage in the power delivery chain that steps down the main DC bus voltage to levels suitable for downstream conversion and AI processor power delivery.
The collaboration builds on work first announced in May 2025 and expanded in October of that year, which focused on enabling serviceable, hot-swappable server racks operating on 800V DC power architectures.
“AI is fundamentally reshaping the demands we place on power infrastructure, and semiconductors are at the heart of solving that challenge,” said Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon Technologies. He added that GaN-based system solutions would be a key enabler of next-generation data centres, with Infineon contributing semiconductor technologies across the power delivery chain.
As AI workloads drive rising power consumption and increasingly dense computing infrastructure, data centre operators are exploring 800V DC distribution alongside existing AC and lower-voltage DC architectures. The approach is intended to support higher rack power levels while reducing distribution losses and addressing constraints on space, cooling and system availability.
At the IBC stage, GaN offers advantages over conventional silicon power devices through faster switching and lower switching losses. According to Infineon, switching frequencies of up to 1MHz can enable smaller magnetic components and passive components, helping to increase power density and reduce board height.
Lower conduction and switching losses can also improve conversion efficiency and limit heat generation as rack power requirements move towards the megawatt range. These characteristics make GaN particularly suited to IBC designs, where power density, efficiency and rapid response to changing loads are key considerations.
Infineon combines its GaN power devices with its PSoC Control C3 controllers and EiceDRIVER gate-driver families to provide integrated IBC solutions. Its portfolio supports conversion from 800V to 50V, 12V, and 6V, allowing designers to select intermediate bus voltages to suit different server and rack architectures.
The company also offers intermediate bus converter solutions based on silicon, GaN and silicon carbide, supported by its in-house manufacturing capabilities and power electronics expertise.
Beyond intermediate bus conversion, Infineon and NVIDIA are collaborating on power-path protection technologies for 800V DC systems. Announced in October 2025, this work includes hot-swap controller functionality intended to support safe servicing and the replacement of server boards while maintaining the requirements of high-availability AI infrastructure.
The expanded collaboration reflects the growing importance of high-efficiency power conversion and protection as AI data centres scale. Infineon is positioning its portfolio to support the entire power delivery chain, from grid-facing power supplies through rack-level distribution to the point of load at AI processors.
