- The underwater computer cluster of Hainan corresponds to the power of 30,000 pc of play operating simultaneously
- IA centers cooled by sea water reduce energy costs and improve safety
- Microsoft abandoned underwater data centers after the first tests
China has deployed 400 high performance servers under the sea as part of an expanding submarine data center in Lingshui, Hainan.
China Media Group claims that this infrastructure will end a year of calculation for an average PC in a second and can allow the AI assistant of Deepseek to manage 7,000 conversations per second.
The newly installed module, measuring 18 meters long and 3.6 meters in diameter, is linked to an existing installation to form an IT cluster designed to support AI -focused applications – providing calculation power equivalent to 30 000 PC of high -end play operating simultaneously.
Expand AI infrastructure in China
XU Tan, vice-president of Highlander, a maritime technology company listed by Shenzhen and a key player in the expansion of the Chinese submarine data center, underlined the advantages of submerged data installations.
“With the advent of the 5G era and even 6G, the data will increase exponentially and the construction of underwater data centers could meet the future requirements of this growth,” he said.
The Hainan Underwater data center, launched for the first time in 2023, was the first commercial project of the genre. According to CGTN, the long -term plan involves deploying up to 100 databases in several phases.
The project is aligned with China’s strategy to improve its AI capabilities, with 219 intelligent computer centers launched in 81 cities from 2022 to 2024, according to IDC (originally in Chinese).
The company also projects the intelligent IT capacity of China will increase at an annual rate of 33.9% until 2027, playing a crucial role in research, data processing and AI automation in various industries .
Nearly 10 companies have signed agreements to use the computer power of underwater data centers for the training of AI models, industrial simulations, game development and maritime research.
However, this project will require thousands of overwhelmed servers, and the specific equipment to use remains unknown. It is likely that high -performance AI accelerators, such as NVIDIA H100 or Huawei Ascension 910, will be taken into account.
China has put pressure for interior alternatives, therefore advanced AI chips in companies like Biren Technology or Loongson are also possibilities.
While China is advancing with the intention of deploying up to 40,000 underwater servers in the coming years, American companies have adopted a more cautious approach. Microsoft previously experienced a submarine database off the coast of the United Kingdom in 2018, but after having recovered it in 2020, the company abandoned its plans of underwater data center.
Via globaltimes
