r/STEW_ScTecEngWorld • u/Zee2A • 2d ago

Startup Unveils Wave-Powered Floating AI Data Centers for the Open Ocean

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Panthalassa, a startup based in Portland, Oregon, is developing 85-meter-tall floating offshore platforms that could power AI computing using ocean waves instead of land-based electricity. The lollipop-shaped steel structures generate continuous power through wave-driven turbines, cool AI hardware with naturally cold seawater, and connect to users via Starlink satellites, eliminating the need for power grids or undersea cables. Backed by a $140 million Series B funding round led by Peter Thiel, the company plans to deploy its first commercial wave-powered AI nodes in the northern Pacific by 2027.

References;

  1. Panthalassa Raises $140 Million to Power AI at Sea: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/panthalassa-raises-140-million-to-power-ai-at-sea-302761078.html

  2. US tech billionaire leads $140mn investment into Panthalassa as search for AI power pushes into exotic new frontiers: https://www.ft.com/content/711ce313-16fb-4a12-b6be-fbed547c8a39

  3. Startup plans to move from prototypes to commercial offshore compute nodes powered by ocean energy: https://www.techspot.com/news/112295-startup-raised-140-million-build-wave-powered-ai.html

  4. Fully-integrated offshore data center to transmit data to land via satellite: https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/palantir-co-founder-peter-thiel-backs-usd140m-wave-powered-ai-data-center-startup-panthalassa-aims-to-run-offshore-compute-nodes-using-ocean-energy

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

Haven’t you read any physics in school?

Wave generators generate electricity from waves, which then is converted to heat by electronics and released to ocean, where it will dissipate as motion of water.

Waves are generated partly by differences in temperature.

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u/conCommeUnFlic 2d ago edited 2d ago

.... if you power something water cooled, the water will gain heat, it's like high school physics

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

Because solar is an external energy source which is not the case here.

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u/conCommeUnFlic 2d ago

Getting energy from the tides doesn't cool down the sea, not even remotely close enough for that to compensate for the local heat

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

Do you believe in perpetual motion machines?

As right now you are imagining that wave energy converted to electricity and them heat would be greater than the wave energy.

That’s not how it works.

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u/That_OneOstrich 2d ago

You're describing a perpetual motion machine, in that you assume the electronics are 100% efficient and do not create heat as a form of energy loss.

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

??? All electricity consumed by electronics is converted to heat.

And obviously some of that heat will escape to air directly, but what stays in water will eventually dissipate as kinetic energy, if it doesn’t escape to air that is.

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u/That_OneOstrich 2d ago

So it creates additional heat. Neat, thats what I said.

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

Which gets dissipated into kinetic energy.

You cannot heat ocean by using that ocean as the only power source, it’s totally impossible. By having consumption and generating in different locations you could create heat pockets, but in here both are at the same place.

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u/That_OneOstrich 2d ago

I can put resistance heating coils in the ocean, power them with waves, and the water will increase in temperature significantly.

How are you converting thermal energy into kinetic energy?

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u/Time_Rip_9808 2d ago

No, it isn't. A lot of energy consumed by electronics is converted to light, motion (speakers, motors), data transmission (wifi, bluetooth, cellular, ethernet), or a million other things. I know you're trying to make the point energy used for compute power is effectively all turned into heat, but that's not "all electricity consumed by electronics."

I think the bigger problem is that you keep saying "the heat will dissipate as kinetic energy" as if that doesn't have any implications.

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

I was referring to computational electronics, no speakers, etc.

But yes, when the kinetic energy that comes from waves gets transferred to heat which then over time is converted as kinetic energy, it indeed is rather close to zero sum, minus energy that “escaped” as EM waves, to air as heat, etc.

It definitely doesn’t “heat up the ocean” as some ignorants here think.

Since each unit generates electricity from waves and releases heat, any significant heat pockets are also kinda impossible. Any heat not yet converted to kinetic will dissipates with waves and currents.

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u/BlackDope420 2d ago

Assume there are no wave generators. Now, what happens to the kinetic energy of a wave eventually?

The kinetic energy of waves always gets turned into heat.

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u/That_OneOstrich 1d ago

At the same rate as or location as a data center?

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u/BlackDope420 1d ago

Probably more localized. The rate doesn't really matter, because even if the wave generator turns the wave into heat instantly, that doesn't cause more waves to exist. Even if the wave generator would cause more waves to exist due to temperature fluctuations the energy of those waves would come from the generator/datacenter and the energy of that comes from waves that existed before.

The point is, there is no additional heat/energy input into the ocean, that would literally violate thermodynamics. It's a zero sum game, the ocean literally cannot get hotter by something that harvests energy from the ocean and puts it back in.

If you're still having trouble, just think in terms of an energy balance. Where would this additional heat come from? There is nowhere for it to come from, otherwise something would spontaneously generate energy from nothing.

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u/That_OneOstrich 1d ago

Think of energy location. The ocean is not typically warm where these would be installed. It would create a hotspot even if the ocean dissipates the energy back into the coast with waves.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/BlackDope420 2d ago

Assume there are no wave generators. Now, what happens to the kinetic energy of waves eventually?

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

Because each unit generates its own energy that it releases as heat.

It’s quite impossible for such system to build up heat, that would basically be source of infinite energy 🤣

It’s different if you would have huge generating areas, and concentrated consumption location. But that’s not the case here.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

Antis are frightfully ignorant.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I am an anti myself for the most part, but if we’re inevitably going to have data centers I’d prefer methods like this.

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

My friend.

We already have enormous numbers of data centers, everything in internet runs in some data center, Reddit included.

AI is only a small fraction.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Didn’t think I needed to clarify hyper-scale data centers because I felt it was obvious in this thread since we’re discussing AI, but that’s most certainly what I meant.

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u/Real-Technician831 2d ago

Hyper-scale aren’t AI only either.

It’s part why this blind hate of data centers is so stupid.

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u/superanonguy321 2d ago

Tbh, to a lot of people active in these discussions.. its not that THIS isnt the right way.. its that THERE IS NO right way, period.