Key points
- LG and Microsoft signed an AI partnership in Redmond
- LG could supply cooling gear for Microsoft data centers
- No orders or contract value were announced
- LG Electronics shares rose 5.9% on September 22
LG wants to supply the cooling systems that keep Microsoft's AI data centers running. Microsoft, in turn, would supply AI software and cloud services for LG's offices and factories. That is the arrangement behind their expanded partnership, though no equipment orders or contract value have been announced.
LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella met in Redmond, Washington, on September 21. The immediate focus is large cooling systems. Longer term, the companies plan to work on prefabricated data centers, using factory-built modules that can be assembled on-site to shorten construction time, according to Financial News (파이낸셜뉴스).
The meeting follows Koo's talks with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in Seoul in June and Silicon Valley in August, where they discussed robotics and AI.
Why cooling matters
AI chips run very hot, and data centers need heavy cooling to keep them working. LG Electronics (066570) makes equipment including coolant distribution units, or CDUs, which send liquid coolant to the servers, and oil-free inverter turbo chillers, large machines that chill the water the system uses.
LG Electronics shares rose 5.9% to 215,000 won ($159) in Seoul on September 22, the day LG announced the partnership. LG Corp, the group's holding company, rose 3.7%, and LG CNS rose 2.3%. LG Electronics closed down 2.1% on September 23.
LG plans to give its office workers across the group Microsoft 365 E7, a package that includes the Copilot AI assistant, according to the group's announcement, carried by AI Times (AI타임스). For physical AI, which means AI that runs machines in the real world, LG will use Microsoft's cloud to train models for factories, logistics and mobility. The two also want to build what they call a data flywheel, where data from the factory floor goes back into the models so they keep getting better.
LG has not announced specific orders, sites or supply volumes. The next development to watch is a named cooling contract or deployment at a Microsoft data center.
Won figures are converted at 1,355.5 won to the dollar, the Naver Finance rate on September 22, 2026.
