- Hainan’s underwater computing cluster matches the ability of 30,000 gaming PCs working concurrently
- Seawater-cooled AI facilities scale back power prices and improve safety
- Microsoft deserted underwater knowledge facilities after early trials
China has deployed 400 high-performance servers beneath the ocean as a part of an increasing underwater knowledge heart in Lingshui, Hainan.
China Media Group says this infrastructure will full a yr’s price of computations for a mean PC in only one second and may allow DeepSeek’s AI assistant to deal with 7,000 conversations per second.
The newly-installed module, measuring 18 meters lengthy and three.6 meters in diameter, is linked to an current facility to type a computing cluster designed to help AI-driven purposes — offering computing energy equal to 30,000 high-end gaming PCs working concurrently.
Increasing China’s AI infrastructure
Xu Tan, vp of Highlander, a Shenzhen-listed maritime know-how agency and a key participant in China’s underwater knowledge heart growth, highlighted the benefits of submerged knowledge amenities.
“With the appearance of the 5G and even 6G period, knowledge will improve exponentially, and the development of undersea knowledge facilities might meet the long run calls for of this progress,” he stated.
The Hainan underwater knowledge heart, first launched in 2023, was the primary business venture of its type. In response to CGTN, the long-term plan entails deploying as much as 100 knowledge cabins in a number of phases.
The venture aligns with China’s technique to reinforce its AI capabilities, with 219 clever computing facilities launched throughout 81 cities from 2022 to 2024, in line with IDC (initially in Chinese language).
The agency additionally tasks China’s clever computing capability will develop at an annual fee of 33.9% till 2027, enjoying an important position in AI analysis, knowledge processing, and automation throughout numerous industries.
Virtually 10 firms have signed agreements to make use of the computing energy of underwater knowledge facilities for AI mannequin coaching, industrial simulations, sport improvement, and marine analysis.
Nonetheless, this venture would require 1000’s of submerged servers, and the particular {hardware} for use stays unknown. It’s seemingly that high-performance AI accelerators, equivalent to Nvidia’s H100 or Huawei’s Ascend 910, will likely be thought of.
China has been pushing for home options, so superior AI chips from firms like Biren Know-how or Loongson are additionally potentialities.
Whereas China strikes ahead with plans to deploy as much as 40,000 underwater servers within the coming years, American firms have taken a extra cautious strategy. Microsoft beforehand experimented with an underwater knowledge heart off the coast of the UK in 2018, however after retrieving it in 2020, the corporate ditched its Nationwide Park underwater knowledge heart plans.
By way of Globaltimes