News: Microelectronics
21 October 2026
Infineon collaborates with NVIDIA on GaN-based power conversion systems for 800VDC AI data centers
Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany is advancing its collaboration with NVIDIA on 800V direct current (VDC) power architectures for AI data centers. Timed to coincide with NVIDIA’s GTC Berlin developer conference on 20–22 October, the announcement centers on the high-voltage intermediate bus converter (IBC), one of the most critical and demanding conversion stages in the power delivery chain of AI data centers. Infineon reckons that its gallium nitride (GaN) technology is well suited for this stage. This builds on the companies’ joint work first announced in May 2025 and detailed further in October 2025, which centered on enabling serviceable, hot-swappable 800VDC server racks.
“AI is fundamentally reshaping the demands we place on power infrastructure, and semiconductors are at the heart of solving that challenge,” says Infineon’s CEO Jochen Hanebeck. “Our collaboration with NVIDIA on 800V power architectures shows what is possible when deep semiconductor expertise meets the pace of innovation required by AI. Gallium nitride-based system solutions are a key enabler of this next generation of data centers, and Infineon is proud to help power the AI era from grid to core.”
Driven by the extreme power draw of AI workloads, data centers have adopted intermediate-bus architectures in which an IBC steps down the main bus voltage feeding accelerator cards into a lower-voltage rail, allowing downstream stages to efficiently generate the tight core and point-of-load rails that AI processors require. This multi-stage approach reduces distribution losses, all while meeting strict constraints on board area, thermal limits and uptime. As AI infrastructure scales, 800VDC is being introduced alongside existing AC and lower-voltage DC architectures as an additional distribution option for higher-density compute.
Compared to silicon, GaN allows power devices to switch significantly faster with lower losses, which enables higher switching frequencies of up to 1MHz at the IBC stage. This in turn allows the size of magnetic components and passives to shrink considerably, directly translating into higher power density and lower board heights, which is a critical advantage as rack space becomes an increasingly scarce resource in AI data centers. At the same time, GaN’s low conduction and switching losses support best-in-class conversion efficiency, helping to limit heat generation even as power levels per rack continue to climb toward the megawatt range. These characteristics make GaN the preferred semiconductor technology today, capable of meeting the combined demands of power density, efficiency and fast transient response at the IBC stage, a position that Infineon has built on the back of many years of experience in GaN development and manufacturing. In combination with PSoC control C3 and EiceDRIVER product families, full system solutions for IBCs are provided by Infineon.
Infineon’s GaN portfolio supports the full range of conversion ratios required at the HV IBC stage, including 800V to 50V, 800V to 12V and 800V to 6V, giving data-center operators the flexibility to optimize rack architectures without compromising power density or efficiency. At this combination of high switching frequency, power density and efficiency, the GaN power switches are used to their full benefit. Infineon says that its technology for power semiconductors relies on extensive in-house manufacturing capabilities as well as application and system expertise built up over many years. The firm’s portfolio spans IBC solutions across silicon, gallium nitride and silicon carbide, supporting customers along the entire range of their design requirements.
Infineon and NVIDIA collaborate along the entire data-center power chain. In addition to IBCs, this also includes power path protection solutions, as announced in October 2025, targeting safety and service aspects such as the hot-swap controller functionality and enabling future server boards to operate in 800VDC power architectures.
Infineon says that the collaboration underscores its position as a grid-to-core power semiconductor partner for AI infrastructure, supplying solutions across the full power delivery chain, from grid-facing power supply units to the point of load at the processor.
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