AI companies look to the ocean as a place to put more data centers

Companies from Microsoft to Chinese, Japanese, Singaporean, and South Korean developers have built or proposed underwater and floating data centers, using seawater cooling to cut electricity and freshwater use; China's Shanghai facility, launched in 2025 at a cost of $226 million, claims at least 30% less electricity draw than land-based equivalents. Microsoft's own Orkney Islands experiment found servers failed at roughly one-eighth the rate of land-based ones, yet the company shut the project down in 2024 without explaining why, citing no reasons publicly even as analysts point to regulatory hurdles and slower upgrade cycles.

A March 2026 Gallup poll found 70% of Americans oppose data centers in their own communities, a fact the industry can solve neatly by putting the centers where no one can see them. Marine researchers note discharged cooling water is already registering measurable temperature increases near operating facilities in China and Portugal, with unresolved questions about effects on marine life.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.