Runware Plans Factory to Build AI Data Centers Like Cars

AI infrastructure company Runware, which recently introduced its Sonic Inference Pod-a modular data center built in a factory and shipped ready to install-now says it wants to assemble those pods on a production line, much like cars. The company told TechCrunch it plans to scale output at its Romania-based factory to 30 megawatts of data center capacity per day by 2028, nearly 1 gigawatt per month.

Prefabricated pods aren't new; Crusoe and Schneider Electric sell them too, but Runware claims it can ship faster. CEO Flaviu Radulescu said production will ramp up gradually starting next year. Runware already runs one factory and is finishing a second, expected online early next year. Pods that once took three weeks to build will soon take a day, the company says, with installation and setup targeted at 48 hours.

Customers can supply their own site or have Runware find one, rent compute or bring their own GPUs and pay a monthly fee, with power and internet billed separately. Pods use closed-loop liquid cooling and air-cooled radiators, needing only power and connectivity, and run silently up to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Radulescu said the company is working with power providers on a site pipeline covering 397 megawatts, with potential to reach 1.2 gigawatts.

Runware has raised more than $60 million and plans a Series B, but is launching the factory with its $50 million Series A. It claims $1 billion in committed interest for the Sonic pods since offering them to outside customers a month ago, representing over 20 megawatts now being delivered. Execution remains the test: the factory needs staff, inventory, supply chain logistics and money-a cautionary tale being EV startup Arrival, which struggled to mass-produce cost-effectively. Radulescu said Runware's cost structure differs and that it hired an experienced plant manager from the automotive industry.

Source: TechCrunch