TechCrunch Industry News Who needs data centers in space when they can float offshore?
Mar 4, 2026
A deep dive into plans to float submerged data centers inside wind turbine pods and the engineering, cooling, and environmental tradeoffs of offshore deployments. A look back at past underwater server trials and why some projects were scaled back. A discussion of messaging encryption choices, with one major platform explaining why it avoids end-to-end encryption for direct messages.
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Floating Data Centers Solve Power And Cooling
- Offshore wind platforms can host submerged data centers to solve power and cooling challenges.
- Aikido plans a 100 kW demo in Norway and a 10–12 MW data hall paired with a 15–18 MW turbine for the UK by 2028.
Seawater Cooling Beats Orbital Complexity
- Placing servers under cold seawater simplifies cooling compared with orbital options.
- Offshore winds are more consistent and a modest battery can bridge lulls while being physically close to overhead power.
Harden Designs For Corrosion And Movement
- Account for ocean-specific engineering risks when planning submerged data centers.
- Harden containers, power and data connections against corrosion and secure pods since they won't be completely stationary in rough seas.