China is building an underwater data center to reduce cooling costs.
Demand for computing power is skyrocketing with the growth of artificial intelligence, but cooling the facilities requires huge amounts of water. In China and elsewhere, water supplies are already strained by demand from agriculture and human consumption, and changing rainfall patterns due to climate change.
China began constructing the underwater data center about six miles off Shanghai in June, Scientific American reported, and it is set to begin operations in September after first being proposed two and a half years ago. Microsoft began a similar project a decade ago, but has reportedly shelved it.
If the Shanghai project is successful, its makers plan to move rapidly to a larger-scale rollout.