Key facts
- South Korea is planning an underwater data center.
- The data center is intended to house AI infrastructure.
- The facility is planned to be carbon-zero.
- Seawater will be used for cooling the data center.
- The location is planned to be off the coast of Ulsan.
- The project aims to address space and cooling challenges for AI infrastructure.
South Korea is embarking on an ambitious project to construct a carbon-zero underwater data center, designed to meet the escalating demands of artificial intelligence infrastructure. The proposed facility will be situated off the coast of Ulsan, a major industrial city in the country. This innovative approach seeks to overcome the persistent challenges of limited space and the substantial cooling requirements inherent in housing powerful AI hardware. By utilizing the surrounding seawater, the data center aims to achieve efficient and sustainable cooling, a critical factor given the high energy consumption of AI systems. The project represents a forward-thinking strategy to ensure South Korea remains at the forefront of AI development by providing the necessary, advanced infrastructure.