Global Tech Firms Deploy Ocean Data Centers for AI

Governments and private companies are increasingly deploying ocean-based data centers to sustain the artificial intelligence boom while reducing land use and reliance on fresh water for cooling. The Government of China led this shift with a wind-powered underwater facility in Shanghai that entered full commercial operations in May 2026.

Other nations are pursuing similar strategies. Japan is testing floating container-based centers near Yokohama through March 2027, and South Korea is planning a large-scale underwater facility in Ulsan designed for over 100,000 servers. In Singapore, Keppel is constructing a four-story floating data center scheduled for completion in 2028. In the United States, DeepGreen Western Passage has proposed a submersible center in the Bay of Fundy powered by tidal turbines.

These initiatives follow earlier research, such as Microsoft's waterproof data center project near Scotland's Orkney Islands, which ended in 2024. While these facilities offer efficiency gains, they face significant hurdles, including difficult maintenance and the risk of thermal pollution from discharging warm water into marine ecosystems.