New China AI Data Centers Beat US Cooling

China will build AI data centers partially submerged underwater. This will cut some of the heat that plagues new data center projects. 

According to Scientific American, “China is now putting a data center in the wettest place there is: the ocean. This June construction began on a wind-powered underwater data center about six miles off the coast of Shanghai, one of China’s AI hubs.” The cooling of the world’s largest data centers can use hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a year. The US does not have such advanced technology.

As a sign of how far the US is behind in this deverlopement, “The undersea data center concept seems to have growing appeal beyond China. Countries including South Korea have also announced plans to pursue them, while Japan and Singapore are mulling data centers that float on the ocean’s surface instead.”

Japan And Korea Have Similar Plans

One hurdle is the location of these centers . Many people in the US are well-informed. This includes facilities in Texas and Arlington, Virginia. These places are far enough from the ocean that the China process may be impossible. 

However, most data centers of the future have not yet been built. The US is well behind many nations in the use of nuclear energy to produce electricity. Nuclear will be necessary when combined with wind and solar. Otherwise, electricity companies may have to return to coal.

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