As artificial intelligence (AI) gets smarter, it uses more electricity and generates more heat. On l..
https://www.mk.co.kr/en/world/12062011
Publish Date: 2026-05-30 20:47:00
Source Domain: www.mk.co.kr
The intense heat generated by tens of thousands of computers Cooling is the key to a data center’s success Microsoft built one underwater in 2018, but it failed because replacing parts was too costly Now, floating offshore centers are emerging as a solution
사진 확대 Nautilus Data Technologies
As artificial intelligence (AI) gets smarter, it uses more electricity and generates more heat. On land, it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure the water and power needed to cool overheated computers. In response, companies around the world have begun an inventive challenge: moving data centers off land and onto the sea.
When you play a high-spec game on a smartphone, the device heats up. An AI data center is a place where tens of thousands of such high-performance computers run around the clock, so it produces enormous amounts of heat. To cool it, huge volumes of clean water are consumed, which has sparked growing backlash from local residents. On top of that, it can take five to seven years just to connect a power plant to the grid and bring electricity to the site.
Microsoft tried to avoid these problems in 2018 by sinking an entire data center deep under the sea off Scotland. The cold seawater made it easy to cool the computers, and the failure rate was much lower than on land. But the project never became commercial. AI semiconductors improve rapidly every year, so parts must be replaced every one to two years. In a sealed facility deep underwater, however, every repair or replacement requires hauling heavy equipment back to the surface, making the process far too time-consuming and expensive.
Out of that failure, a new solution has emerged: the Floating Data Center (FDC). Instead of going underwater like a submarine, the facility is placed on a large ship or barge and kept afloat. Because it sits on the water, operators can board the vessel at any time to replace the latest components and carry out…
