I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5332 
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a tech-
nology assessment focused on liquid-cooling systems for artificial-intel-
ligence compute clusters and high-performance computing facilities, re-
quire the development of Federal Government-wide best-practice guidance 
for Federal agencies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 11, 2025 
Mr. OBERNOLTE (for himself and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a 
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to 
conduct a technology assessment focused on liquid-cool-
ing systems for artificial-intelligence compute clusters 
and high-performance computing facilities, require the 
development of Federal Government-wide best-practice 
guidance for Federal agencies, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND PURPOSE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Liquid Cooling for AI 
Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The 2024 United States Data Center En-
ergy Usage Report published by Lawrence Berkeley 
National Laboratory indicates that data centers ac-
counted for 4.4 percent of total United States elec-
tricity consumption in 2023, up from 1.9 percent in 
2018. The report further projects that data centers 
could represent between 6.7 percent and 12.8 per-
cent of total electricity consumption by 2028, due to 
the rapid growth of AI, cloud computing, and other 
digital technologies. 
(2) Traditional air-cooled systems are reaching 
limits to effectively remove heat from AI chips and 
hardware, and liquid cooling enhanced thermal per-
formance is increasingly becoming a necessity for 
high-density AI servers and data centers due to the 
growing power consumption and heat generation of 
AI workloads. 
(3) Liquid-cooling technologies, including di-
rect-to-chip (DTC) liquid cooling and single-phase or 
two-phase immersion cooling, can improve thermal 
performance, enable higher densities, and reduce 
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cooling system load when properly engineered and 
maintained. 
(4) Effective liquid-cooling deployments require 
interoperable components and engineered sub-
systems, including coolant distribution units, sec-
ondary loops, manifolds, hoses, quick-disconnects, 
valves, pumps, filters, leak detection and contain-
ment, corrosion control, and appropriate instrumen-
tation and controls. 
(5) Interfaces for heat-reuse are integral to liq-
uid systems and can reduce thermal load on heat-re-
jection equipment by transferring heat through plate 
heat exchangers or other devices to beneficial sec-
ondary uses where technically appropriate. 
(6) Federal agencies, including the Department 
of Energy, are considering the deployment of AI sys-
tems across government-owned facilities. 
(7) A comprehensive, independent assessment 
of emerging data center architectures and cooling 
technologies is essential to inform efficient and cost- 
effective deployment decisions across the Federal 
Government. 
SEC. 3. LIQUID COOLING DEPLOYMENT AND SCALABILITY. 
(a) GAO REVIEW.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
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of the United States shall initiate a review of the research 
and development needs, and the related market, techno-
logical, and regulatory conditions, affecting liquid cooling 
utilization by data centers. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The review required under sub-
section (a) shall include the following: 
(1) An evaluation of liquid cooling research and 
development needs, and the costs and benefits for 
high performance computing. 
(2) A description of avoided costs of energy, in-
cluding deferred and avoided new electric trans-
mission and infrastructure upgrades and associated 
costs. 
(3) A description of increased compute capacity 
by enabling more energy to be used for computing 
workloads rather than cooling. 
(4) A survey and analysis of existing research 
on the positive and negative effects of liquid cooling 
on computing performance, resiliency, and cyberse-
curity. 
(5) An assessment of market trends and adop-
tion rates of liquid cooling in United States data 
centers over the past five years. 
(6) A comparison of direct-to-chip (DTC) liquid 
cooling and immersion cooling approaches across 
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representative density bands, including relating to 
thermal performance, maintainability, interoper-
ability, safety, failure modes, and lifecycle cost. 
(7) An evaluation of coolant options, including 
water, water-glycol, and engineered fluids, materials 
compatibility, corrosion control, bio growth mitiga-
tion, filtration, deaeration, and fluid monitoring and 
management. 
(8) Recommendations relating to whether liquid 
cooling should be considered as a primary cooling 
option over air cooling due to the thermal conditions 
of computing components in servers within data cen-
ters. 
(9) Development of reference architectures and 
layouts for rack, row, and room-level liquid distribu-
tion by density band and cooling approach. 
(10) A survey of existing opportunities for 
reusing waste heat produced by data centers. 
(11) An evaluation of failure scenarios (such as 
pump failures or fluid leaks) and mitigation strate-
gies, especially in shared co-location environments. 
(c) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In preparing the re-
view required under subsection (a), the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall include rec-
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ommendations, including considerations relating to 
the following: 
(A) The Federal Government’s utilization 
of and ongoing research on liquid cooling tech-
nologies. 
(B) Best practices and industry standards 
for the design and operation of liquid cooling 
technologies. 
(C) Methods to enhance the security, reli-
ability, and resilience of computing equipment 
and data centers. 
(D) Methods to accelerate education on 
operational best practices. 
(2) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—With the goal of 
identifying the best practices and industry standards 
referred to in paragraph (1)(A), the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall consult with 
stakeholders from Federal, State, and local govern-
ments, the private sector, academia, and National 
Laboratories. 
(3) LIQUID
COOLING
ADVISORY
ORGANIZA-
TION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the 
review required under subsection (a), including 
the identification of best practices and industry 
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standards referred to in paragraph (1)(A), the 
Secretary of Energy and the Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States shall jointly designate 
a liquid cooling industry organization with 
which to consult and coordinate in the prepara-
tion of such review. 
(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The organization 
designated pursuant to subparagraph (A), 
whether preexisting or formed specifically for 
the purposes described in such subparagraph, 
shall satisfy the following criteria: 
(i) Consist of interested parties who 
have expertise in liquid cooling system ap-
plications in the development, operation, 
and functionality of AI factories or data 
centers, information technology equipment, 
or software, as well as representatives of 
hardware manufacturers, data center oper-
ators, or AI factory development. 
(ii) Consult with relevant stake-
holders, including the Department of En-
ergy, the National Laboratories, and any 
college, university, research institution, in-
dustry association, company, or public in-
terest group with applicable expertise in 
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any of the subject matters areas specified 
in clause (i). 
(iii) Have as its mission the develop-
ment and promotion of liquid cooling for 
data centers and information technology. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall submit to the Secretary of Energy and 
the appropriate congressional committees a written report 
containing the results, findings, and any associated rec-
ommendations of the review required under subsection (a). 
(e) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REVIEW.—Not later 
than 180 days after receiving the report from the Comp-
troller General of the United States under subsection (d), 
the Secretary of Energy shall— 
(1) evaluate such report and any associated rec-
ommendations; and 
(2) submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees an assessment of such report and any 
associated recommendations, including— 
(A) relevant considerations for Congress 
regarding the importance of liquid cooling for 
the United States to maintain its global lead in 
AI technologies; and 
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(B) recommendations for research and de-
velopment on liquid cooling and heat-reuse. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) AI.—The term ‘‘AI’’ has the meaning given 
the term ‘‘artificial intelligence’’ in section 5002 of 
the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 
2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401). 
(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology and the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce of the House of Representatives. 
(3) DIRECT-TO-CHIP (DTC) LIQUID COOLING.— 
The term ‘‘direct-to-chip (DTC) liquid cooling’’ 
means a liquid cooling method that involves circu-
lating a coolant in direct contact with applicable 
heat-generating components, such as processors and 
memory modules, to efficiently absorb and transfer 
heat away. 
(4) 
HEAT-REUSE.—The 
term 
‘‘heat-reuse’’ 
means the capture and transfer of waste heat from 
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liquid loops for beneficial secondary use through ap-
propriate interfaces and controls. 
(5) IMMERSION COOLING.—The term ‘‘immer-
sion cooling’’ means a cooling technique that in-
volves submerging electronic components in a dielec-
tric fluid to absorb and dissipate heat within a pre-
set temperature range. 
(6) LIQUID COOLING.—The term ‘‘liquid cool-
ing’’ means utilization of liquids to remove heat effi-
ciently from electronic components. 
(7) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na-
tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given such term 
in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 15801). 
Æ 
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