Underwater data center in San Francisco Bay? Regulators say not so fast

NetworkOcean is not alone in its ambitions. Founded in 2021, US-based Subsea Cloud operates about 13,500 computer servers in unspecified underwater locations in Southeast Asia to serve clients in AI and gaming, says Maxie Reynolds, the startup’s founder and CEO. “It’s a new market,” she says. “But it’s currently the only one that can handle the current and projected load in a sustainable way.”

According to Reynolds, Subsea has obtained permits for each site and uses remotely operated robots for maintenance. It plans to turn on its first underwater GPU next year and is also considering private sites, which Reynolds says will reduce permit complexity. Subsea claims it is not significantly raising water temperatures, though it has not published an independent review.

NetworkOcean also believes this will lead to negligible warming. “Our modeling shows a 2 degree Fahrenheit change over an 8 square foot area, or 0.004 degree Fahrenheit change over the surface of a body of water,” says Mendell. He is confident in Microsoft’s conclusion that water a few meters downstream It only got a little warm after testing.

Protected bay

According to Mumley, the former water board official, the Bay Area projects cannot raise water temperatures by more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit at any time or place. But two biologists who spoke to Wired say any increase is worrisome to them because it could incubate Harmful Algae And attract invasive species,

Shaoli Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside, who studies the environmental impact of AI, compares plans for an underwater data center of NetworkOcean’s announced capacity, when fully utilized, to running about 300 bedroom space heaters. (Mendell dismisses this concern, citing Project Natick’s apparently minimal impact.) A few years ago, a project A proposal to use San Francisco Bay water to cool a land-based data center failed to win committee approval after public concerns were raised over issues including temperature.

San Francisco Bay is a dozen feet deep on average, with saltwater from the Pacific Ocean flowing beneath the Golden Gate Bridge mixing with fresh runoff from a large part of Northern California. Experts say it’s not clear whether any spot in the expanse would be suitable for more than a short exposure amid its muddy, shallow, salty and turbid parts.

In addition, securing a permit might require proving to at least nine regulatory bodies and several important nonprofit organizations that the data center would be profitable, according to spokespeople for the agencies and five experts on Gulf politics. For example, under the law Administered by the Conservation and Development Commission, a project’s public benefits must “clearly outweigh” its harms, and developers must show there is no suitable location on the land.

Other agencies consider waste emissions and the harm they cause to the area’s endangered fish and birds (Including the infamous Delta Smelt) Even a temporary project requires approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which reviews obstructions to ship and boat traffic, and the water board. “For example, temporarily placing a large structure in an eelgrass bed could have long-term effects on the eelgrass, which is an important habitat for some fish,” says the water board’s Lichten.

NetworkOcean’s Kim tells WIRED the company is aware of the concerns and is avoiding sensitive habitats. His co-founder Mendell says he contacted one of the region’s regulators. In March, NetworkOcean spoke to an unspecified U.S. Coast Guard representative about testing at the bottom of the bay and pumping seawater as a coolant. The company later switched to current near-surface plans that don’t involve pumping. (A Coast Guard spokesperson declined to comment without more clarity on who was reportedly contacted by NetworkOcean.)

Kim and Mandel said they are eyeing other U.S. and foreign locations for permanent installations, which they declined to name, and are in discussions with relevant regulators.

Mendell insists that the “SF Bay” test announced last month will go ahead–and soon. “We’re still building the ship,” he says. A community of marine scientists will keep their thermometers nearby.