'We're now ready': Peter Thiel-backed company raises $1bn to send data
centers out to sea to harness 'tens of terawatts of new capacity potential'
in the power of the open ocean

Date:
Thu, 07 May 2026 21:45:00 +0000

Description:
Peter Thiel backs Panthalassa's $140 million round to build floating AI data centers powered by ocean waves, bypassing land-based energy constraints

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Panthalassa's valuation now
sits near $1 billion after fresh funding Peter Thiel led a $140 million investment round into the ocean tech company Investors see ocean energy as a vast, untapped computing resource A US-based ocean technology company, Panthalassa, is advancing its plan to relocate data processing into open waters , backed by fresh funding that places its valuation near $1 billion.

The start-up has spent ten years developing wave energy technology and is now backed by PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, who led
a $140 million investment round into the company. "We're now ready to build factories, deploy fleets, and provide a sustainable new source of energy for humanity," said Garth Sheldon-Coulson, co-founder and CEO of Panthalassa. You may like How wave-powered ocean platforms could meet AI data center energy demands 'We have this power from the wind. We have free cooling': This
startup wants to build underwater data centers inside wind turbines at sea - using the icy North Sea waters to keep everything cool Samsungs floating data center plan promises faster AI power deployment at sea Latest Videos From Bypassing the grid by going offshore Panthalassas idea connects two pressures which rarely meet directly rising demand for AI computing and limits on land-based energy systems.

By placing both energy generation and computation offshore, the company
argues it can bypass grid constraints and cooling challenges.

The plan is to use the bobbing motion of waves to force water through a turbine, generating electricity to power AI chips directly at sea.

The company houses this entire system inside what it calls a node, an 85-metre-long solid steel structure that sits mostly below the ocean surface. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

A hermetically sealed container inside holds the AI server, which is cooled
by the surrounding seawater.

The vessels can drive themselves to their destination using the shape of
their hull, requiring no engine or fuel.

Unlike other ocean energy projects, Panthalassa will never transmit electricity back to land - instead, AI chips on board will receive user queries via SpaceX's Starlink satellite connection and send inference tokens back the same way. What to read next Antimatter plans global AI network with 1,000 micro data centers by 2030 Hitachi and Mitsui OSK Lines to develop floating data centers in Japan Meta to power data centers with space-based solar energy Terawatts of untapped energy "There are three sources of energy on the planet with tens of terawatts of new capacity potential: solar, nuclear, and the open ocean," Sheldon-Coulson said.

Waves are created by wind, and wind is created by heat from the sun. That means waves are essentially twice concentrated sunlight that keeps moving
even when the wind stops.

The company's nodes have no hinges, flaps, or gearboxes that could break down in hostile ocean conditions, making them easier to manufacture at scale.

They use only earth-abundant materials like steel, with robust supply chains that support rapid deployment a huge opportunity for data center
development.

The scale of this opportunity has attracted attention from some of Silicon Valley's most prominent investors.

"The future demands more compute than we can imagine," said Peter Thiel. "Extra-terrestrial solutions are no longer science fiction. Panthalassa has opened the ocean frontier."

John Doerr, an early investor in Google and Amazon , called Panthalassa's system a game changer in addressing global energy needs and clean power generation.

"It is a triple win: workers benefit, communities benefit, and we gain a strategic asset that strengthens American technological leadership," Doerr added.

Panthalassa plans to deploy its Ocean-3 pilot nodes in the northern Pacific Ocean sometime this year, with commercial deployments targeted for 2027.

The company has demonstrated its capabilities with Ocean-1, Ocean-2, and Wavehopper prototypes in 2021 and 2024.

However, scaling from prototypes to a commercial fleet of hundreds or thousands of nodes is a completely different challenge.

The ocean is unforgiving, and maintaining floating data centers in remote waters far from any port will require logistics that no company has ever managed before.

Saltwater corrosion, biofouling, and storm damage are not theoretical
problems for marine equipment - they are daily realities that have sunk many promising ocean energy ventures before this one.

Thiel's money buys time and manufacturing capacity, but it does not buy immunity from the laws of physics or the hostility of the sea.

Unlike projects that sink sealed containers to the ocean floor or launch server racks into orbit , these floating nodes must first survive the unpredictable surface of the open ocean before delivering any compute value.

Via Financial Times Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/were-now-ready-peter-thiel-backed-company-raises -usd1bn-to-send-data-centers-out-to-sea-to-harness-tens-of-terawatts-of-new-ca pacity-potential-in-the-power-of-the-open-ocean


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)