AI Companies Look to the Ocean as a Place to Put More Data Centers
The AI boom is driving exploration into underwater data centers to mitigate energy, water, and land demands. This technology offers benefits like improved cooling efficiency but introduces new environmental and maintenance challenges, including the impact of warm water discharge on marine ecosystems. While some companies are pursuing these projects, others, like Microsoft, have concluded their research due to various concerns.
The article, authored by Nir Kshetri from the University of North Carolina – Greensboro, explores the emerging trend of underwater data centers as a potential solution to the escalating energy, water, and land demands posed by the artificial intelligence boom. While these submerged facilities offer benefits like improved cooling efficiency using seawater and reduced land footprint, they introduce new environmental concerns and logistical challenges.
Microsoft initially pioneered research in this area with its Project Natick, deploying a data center near Scotland's Orkney Islands. Although the underwater servers exhibited a lower failure rate, Microsoft concluded the project in 2024, possibly due to regulatory complexities and the need for quicker hardware upgrades. Despite Microsoft's pivot back to land-based facilities, other nations and companies are advancing ocean-based infrastructure. China launched a wind-powered underwater data center in Shanghai, while Japan is testing containerized data centers on floating platforms near Yokohama. Singapore's Keppel is constructing a four-story floating data center, and South Korea is planning an underwater facility in Ulsan.
In the United States, DeepGreen Western Passage has proposed a submersible AI data center for Maine's Bay of Fundy, designed to be powered by tidal turbines. The article highlights that these projects aim to reduce reliance on grid electricity and fresh water, and their offshore location could mitigate public opposition prevalent against land-based data centers. However, significant hurdles remain, including the complexity of maintenance for submerged equipment and, critically, the environmental impact of discharging warmer seawater into marine ecosystems. Researchers warn that even slight temperature increases from these facilities could exacerbate existing ocean warming and threaten sensitive marine life, urging careful consideration of their long-term sustainability.