Who needs data centers in space when they can float on land?

The power consumption of AI data centers has gotten so bad that people – and not just Elon Musk – he is talking about launching servers in space to be able to access solar energy 24/7.

Another inventor thinks that the sea is a better place for them. Offshore wind generator Aikido plans to sink a 100-kilowatt demonstration facility off the coast of Norway this year. A small portion is located in the submerged legs of the floating offshore wind machine.

If all goes well, the company hopes to build a larger model to send to the UK coast in 2028. That model will sport a 15 megawatt to 18 megawatt turbine that will feed a 10 megawatt to 12 megawatt data center.

Moving to the mainland can solve a number of problems. The proximity of the power is obvious, because the source will be at the top. Offshore winds are more consistent than onshore, and a low battery can block any direction.

A water reservoir could alleviate the concerns of NIMBY groups – “not out of my back” groups – who object to data centers near their properties due to noise and pollution.

Finally, floating in the cold sea water, cooling the servers can be a simple idea. (Cooling is one of the biggest challenges for data centers, as they need to use different methods to free up space.)

But for all the problems that offshore data centers solve, they create a few more. The ocean is a difficult place. Although submerged servers could not be hit by waves, they also would not be stable, and therefore required a full attack. Seawater is also corrosive, so any equipment, including containers and power and data connections, must be dry.

Aikido is not the first company to think of drowning in seawater. Microsoft floated the idea ten years ago, and in 2018 it launched an experiment on the coast of Scotland, which was a little successful. Only six of the more than 850 servers failed during the 25-month test. (The data center was filled with inert nitrogen gas, which may help explain the server failures.)

Microsoft has acquired several patents over the years, which it opened in 2021. in 2024The company was deeply involved in the project.