NetworkOcean isn’t alone in its ambitions. Founded in 2021, the U.S.-based Subsea Cloud operates about 13,500 computer servers in unspecified underwater locations in Southeast Asia to serve clients in artificial intelligence and gaming, says the startup’s founder and CEO, Maxie Reynolds. “It’s a nascent market,” she says. “But right now, it’s the only one that can sustainably support current and projected workloads.”
Subsea has obtained permits for each location and is using remotely operated robots for maintenance, according to Reynolds. It plans to launch its first underwater GPU next year and is also considering private locations, which Reynolds said would simplify the permitting complexities. Subsea says it does not significantly enhance water temperatures, although it has not published independent reviews.
NetworkOcean also believes it will cause a compact amount of heating. “Our modeling shows a 2-degree Fahrenheit change over an 8-foot square area, or a 0.004-degree Fahrenheit change on the surface” of the water, Mendel says. He draws confidence from Microsoft’s findings that water a few meters downstream It has warmed only slightly since the tests.
Protected bay
The Bay Area projects could raise water temperatures by no more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit at any given time or location, according to Mumley, a former water board official. But two biologists who spoke with WIRED say any enhance is concerning to them because it could incubate harmful algae and attract invasive species.
Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside, who studies the environmental impact of AI, compares plans for an underwater data center with NetworkOcean’s announced capacity, at full capacity, to running about 300 room heaters. (Mendel disputes these concerns, citing the seemingly minimal impact of Project Natick.) A few years ago a project was created A proposal to utilize water from San Francisco Bay to nippy a land-based data center failed to gain approval after public concerns, including about temperatures.
San Francisco Bay is about a dozen feet deep on average, with salty Pacific water flowing in from under the Golden Gate Bridge, mixing with fresh water flowing down from the expansive Northern California ridge. Experts say it’s unclear whether any one spot in the area would be suitable for more than a compact demonstration among its muddy, shallow, salty and stormy parts.
In addition, obtaining permits could require proving to at least nine regulators and several key nonprofits that a data center would be profitable, according to agency spokesmen and five experts in Gulf policy. For example, in accordance with the law According to the Environment and Development Commission, the public benefits of the project must “clearly outweigh” the harm, and developers must demonstrate that there is no suitable location on the site.
Other agencies are weighing the waste emissions and harm to a handful of endangered fish and birds in the region (including the infamous delta smelt). Even a short-lived project would need approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which analyzes the disruption to boat traffic, and the water board. “For example, temporarily placing a large structure in a seagrass bed could have long-term effects on the seagrass, which is critical habitat for some fish,” says Lichten of the water board.
NetworkOcean’s Kim tells WIRED that the company is aware of the concerns and is avoiding sensitive habitats. His co-founder, Mendel, says they’ve reached out to one of the regional regulators. In March, NetworkOcean spoke with an unspecified US Coast Guard official about testing on the bottom of the bay and pumping in seawater as coolant. The company later transitioned to its current near-surface plans, which don’t involve pumping. (A Coast Guard spokesperson declined to comment without specifying who NetworkOcean allegedly contacted.)
Kim and Mendel say they are considering building indefinite installations at other locations in the U.S. and abroad, which they would not disclose, and that they are working with appropriate regulators.
Mendel insists that the “SF Bay” test announced last month will happen — and soon. “We’re still building the ship,” he says. The marine science community will keep its thermometers close together.