China Deploys Underwater Intelligent Computing Cluster

In an important leap forward in sustainable high-performance computing, China has deployed an underwater intelligent computing cluster off the coast of its southernmost province of Hainan

Haikou: In a significant leap forward in sustainable high-performance computing, China has deployed an underwater intelligent computing cluster off the coast of its southernmost province of Hainan.

The facility established a connection with the existing underwater data centre (UDC), first launched in 2023, to create a cluster for the intelligent computing centre.

"Computing Power"

The newly installed facility, capable of housing over 400 high-performance servers, was deployed on the seabed off the coast of Lingshui, Hainan on Tuesday morning, news agency WAM reported citing CMG report.

The cluster delivers computing power equivalent to 30,000 high-end gaming PCs, processing a year's worth of calculations for an average computer in just one second.

The underwater cluster also supports AI applications that require massive data processing. It also enables DeepSeek's AI assistant to handle 7,000 queries per second.

"Project Natick"

Back in 2021, Microsoft had submerged its servers in liquid to improve performance and save energy.

In an earlier experiment, Microsoft sank a shipping container-sized data centre 117 feet deep in the seafloor off Scotland's Orkney Islands in 2018 as part of its Project Natick.

The Hainan UDC, the world's first commercial UDC project, officially commenced operations near Lingshui at the end of March 2023.

The system uses seawater as a natural coolant, significantly cutting energy consumption compared to land-based centres. Some 10 companies have already signed on to utilize its capacity for AI model training and inference, industrial simulation, game development and marine scientific research.

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