NetworkOcean is not alone in its ambitions. Founded in 2021, US-based Subsea Cloud operates about 13,500 computer servers in undisclosed underwater locations in Southeast Asia to serve AI and gaming clients, the startup’s founder and CEO said. which is Maxie Reynolds. “It’s a nascent market,” he said. “But it’s the only one that can handle the current and expected load in a sustainable way.”
Subsea has obtained a permit for each site and is using remotely operated robots for maintenance, according to Reynolds. It plans to power its first GPUs underwater next year and is also considering private sites, which Reynolds said would ease the permitting complexity. Subsea says it doesn’t increase water temperature significantly, although it hasn’t published independent reviews.
NetworkOcean also believes it will cause less overheating. “Our modeling shows a 2-degree Fahrenheit change in an 8-square-foot area, or a 0.004-degree Fahrenheit change over a body” of water, Mendel said. He takes confidence from Microsoft’s finding that water a few meters downstream from its test warmed slightly.
Protected Bay
Bay Area projects can raise water temperatures by no more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit at any time or place, according to Mumley, the former water board official. But two biologists who spoke to WIRED said any increase worries them because it could breed harmful algae and attract invasive species.
Shaolei Ren, a University of California, Riverside, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who studies the environmental impact of AI, compares plans for an underwater data center to NetworkOcean’s announced capacity, when fully utilized , in the operation of approximately 300 bedroom space heaters. (Mendel disputes the concern, citing Project Natick’s apparently minimal impact.) A few years ago, a project that proposed using San Francisco Bay water to cool a ground-based data center failed to get approval. approval after public concerns were raised, including about temperatures.
San Francisco Bay averages about a dozen feet deep, with salty Pacific Ocean water flowing from under the Golden Gate Bridge mixing with fresh runoff from a large portion of Northern California. Experts say it’s unclear whether any location in space is suitable for more than a small demonstration among its muddy, shallow, salty, and turbulent side.
In addition, securing permits may require proving to at least nine regulatory bodies and several critical nonprofits that a data center will be worthwhile, according to spokesmen for the agencies and five political experts. Bay. For example, under the law administered by the Conservation and Development Commission, the public benefit of a project must “clearly outweigh” the harm, and developers must demonstrate that there is no suitable location on the land.
Other agencies consider waste releases and damage to a small number of endangered fish and birds in the region (including the much-maligned delta smelt). Even a temporary project requires signoff from the US Army Corps of Engineers, which reviews obstruction to ship and boat traffic, and the water board. “For example, temporarily placing a large structure on an eelgrass bed can have long-term effects on the eelgrass, which is a critical habitat for some fish,” said the water board’s Lichten.
NetworkOcean’s Kim told WIRED that the company is aware of the concerns and is avoiding sensitive habitats. His cofounder Mendel said they contacted one of the regional regulators. In March, NetworkOcean spoke with an unnamed US Coast Guard representative about testing the bottom of the bay and pumping in seawater as a coolant. The company eventually switched to current near-surface plans that don’t involve pumping. (A Coast Guard spokeswoman declined to comment without more clarity on who NetworkOcean allegedly contacted.)
For permanent installations, Kim and Mendel said they are looking at other locations in the US and abroad, which they declined to name, and are in contact with relevant regulators.
Mendel insists that the “SF Bay” test announced last month will move forward—and soon. “We’re still building the ship,” he said. A community of marine scientists will keep their thermometers close.
