The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) and Current/OS have formed a new alliance to accelerate the shift toward hybrid AC/DC and fully DC-native power architectures in large-scale data centers. The agreement arrives as AI infrastructure pushes site power requirements into the hundreds of megawatts and, increasingly, the gigawatt range. The partnership builds on OCP’s “Open Data Center for AI” initiative and its Data Center Facilities Power Distribution Project, aligning with Current/OS’s work to standardize safe, interoperable direct-current microgrids.
Both organizations already promote DC adoption for efficiency and sustainability, but the combined effort aims to create a vendor-neutral “operating system” for DC-powered facilities. Standardizing high-voltage busbars, ultra-fast (<100 µs) solid-state fault protection, and interoperable component interfaces could eliminate the 15–30% efficiency penalty of repeated AC-DC conversions. The alliance also complements momentum around OCP’s Mount Diablo high-voltage power sidecar rack, a 2025 contribution aimed at enabling 1MW-class IT racks for next-generation AI clusters.
The partnership draws encouragement from Eaton and ABB, who co-lead OCP’s Power Distribution Project. That group is preparing a directional whitepaper for early 2026 and has organized six workstreams addressing LVDC system architecture, best practices, and industry alignment. The new alliance positions OCP and Current/OS to guide the industry toward higher-voltage (±400V and 800V) DC distribution, lower I²R losses, improved PUE, and more resilient power systems across hyperscale, colocation, and enterprise environments.
• OCP and Current/OS form alliance to accelerate DC and hybrid AC/DC standards
• Targets efficiency gains by reducing 15–30% losses from repeated AC-DC conversions
• Supports migration from 48V racks to ±400V and 800V DC architectures
• Aligns with OCP’s Mount Diablo high-voltage power sidecar and emerging 1MW IT racks
• Eaton and ABB helped drive collaboration through OCP’s Power Distribution Project
• Whitepaper expected in early 2026; six workstreams already active
“By working with OCP, we can bring open, safe, and interoperable DC power architecture to data centers at a time when AI workloads are redefining what power infrastructure must deliver,” said a Current/OS representative.
🌐 Analysis: This alliance reflects growing industry momentum around DC distribution, which has resurfaced as AI data-center power densities surge past 50–100kW per rack and into the megawatt range. OCP’s earlier Mount Diablo submission and hyperscaler interest in high-voltage DC buses underscore the urgency for standardized approaches, while competitors and adjacent groups—from ISO/IEC to the Open Grid Alliance—are similarly pushing to modernize grid-to-rack power flows. This collaboration positions OCP as a coordinating hub for the next-generation power stack inside AI facilities.
