Akash Systems closes $300M deal for diamond-cooled AI servers that eliminate data center AC requirements
Mar 3, 2026 with Dr. Felix Ejeckam
Key Points
- Akash Systems closes $300 million deal with undisclosed customer for diamond-cooled AI servers that eliminate air conditioning and liquid cooling requirements.
- Servers using synthetic diamond thermal interface reduce GPU temperatures by 10–15 degrees Celsius and deliver roughly $1 million in cost savings over three to four years despite $400k markup.
- Company's space heritage from deploying dozen satellites with diamond cooling gave confidence to apply the same technology to data center GPUs, now covered by dozens of patents.
Summary
Akash Systems, a Bay Area startup founded by Dr. Felix Ejeckam, makes servers cooled with synthetic diamond for AI and cloud providers. The company grows diamond via chemical vapor deposition and places a thin layer directly on GPU dies as a thermal interface. Diamond is the world's most thermally conductive material. A layer on the GPU reduces temperatures by 10–15 degrees Celsius and eliminates the need for air conditioning or liquid cooling infrastructure. Heat transfers from the GPU through the diamond to a heat sink, then dissipates to ambient air. Servers can operate at 120 degrees Fahrenheit without AC or liquid systems, cutting costs and energy consumption for data center operators.
Server economics
A typical AI server costs $250k–$300k. Akash's diamond-cooled variant costs about $400k more. Ejeckam claims the technology generates roughly $1 million in cost savings and efficiency gains over three to four years, making the markup economically rational. The company uses industrial-grade diamonds rather than gem quality since thermal conductivity matters and clarity does not. Akash sources diamonds globally wherever cost and quality requirements align. Lab-grown diamond costs have fallen sharply over the past decade, improving unit economics. The company also reclaims and reuses diamonds when servers reach end of life.
Market validation
Akash announced a $300 million deal with an undisclosed customer for its diamond-cooled servers. The company recently launched a new server built on an AMD chip. Ejeckam started with diamond cooling in satellites, where power densities and environmental conditions are far more extreme than terrestrial data centers. Akash has deployed about a dozen satellites with diamond cooling, giving the team confidence to apply the same material science and device physics to GPUs. The technology is covered by dozens of patents. Other potential applications exist in Bitcoin mining and space-based data centers, but Ejeckam says the focus is scaling AI and cloud workloads first.