China Plans Underwater AI Pod Near Shanghai

China’s Highlander is building a yellow server pod to be submerged off Shanghai, with deployment planned for mid‑October. The pod is designed to cut data‑center cooling energy by about 90% using ocean-water cooling, aims to lower AI workloads’ carbon footprints, and Highlander says over 95% of its power will come from nearby offshore wind. The facility is slated to serve commercial clients including China Telecom and a state‑owned AI computing company, and follows an earlier domestic Hainan pilot as well as past experiments such as Microsoft’s 2018 Scotland trial. The project has government support, including a reported 40 million yuan subsidy, but engineers face technical hurdles (saltwater corrosion, maintenance access) and experts warn ecological impacts and broader commercial viability remain uncertain.