Omen AI acquires Aquatic Labs for $16M to optimize data center cooling

The acquisition bridges two distinct approaches to water management. Omen, founded in 2024 by Zach Laberge, specializes in detecting valve failures and bacterial growth, while Aquatic Labs, led by former MIT physicist Allan Adams, focuses on alkalinity testing. By merging these technologies, the company aims to replace the industry-standard multi-day lab testing process with a single, integrated sensor capable of providing a comprehensive diagnostic of cooling systems.

Integrating the two platforms addresses a critical operational pain point: preventing expensive emergency shutdowns. Operators currently default to dumping cooling fluids at the first sign of instability to protect hardware worth billions. Adams, who joins Omen as chief science officer, expects the combined sensor technology to hit the market by early next year. The firm is currently targeting the monitoring of chips pulling 250 to 300 MW of power, with ambitions to scale coverage to 1 GW of capacity by 2027. Despite broader market skepticism regarding the massive capital expenditure required for AI infrastructure, Laberge remains insulated by the nature of his work, which focuses on facilities already financed and currently under construction.