Naver Invests in Wave-Powered AI Data Center Developer 'Panthalassa'

Expanding Data Center Technology Based on Renewable Energy

Suyeon Choi, CEO of Naver.

Naver announced on August 13 that it has invested in Panthalassa, a startup developing offshore artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

Recently, as Naver is securing AI data center infrastructure, it appears that this investment in Panthalassa is aimed at acquiring next-generation AI data center technology based on renewable energy.

Founded in the United States in 2016, Panthalassa is a startup developing floating AI data centers powered by wave energy. As a surge in data center electricity demand makes ensuring power supply a top priority, Panthalassa is developing an eco-friendly data center model capable of continuous power generation using wave energy, without the need for separate power plants or fuel.

Panthalassa's node platform, which floats offshore, integrates power generation, AI computing and processing, and cooling—all the essential features required to build and operate an AI data center—into a single system. Thanks to the floating data center model, costs can be reduced compared to land-based data centers, since land acquisition expenses are avoided. For server cooling, seawater is used to replace traditional high-power cooling systems typically required in ground-based data centers.

In addition, even without a separate power transmission infrastructure, AI workloads such as computing and processing can be performed directly on the node. The results of computation are transmitted to land via low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication networks, including Starlink. LEO satellites offer low latency, making them suitable for AI inference tasks requiring rapid response. Furthermore, as global communication is possible without undersea cables, geographic restrictions are greatly reduced.

Panthalassa has been conducting offshore demonstrations of its wave energy platforms such as Ocean-1 and Ocean-2, and plans to deploy its Ocean-3 platform for demonstration later this year, targeting commercialization in the coming year.

Suyeon Choi, CEO of Naver, stated, "Naver is expanding its business domain through AI data centers and rapidly securing differentiated data center infrastructure through global partnerships and more. We are also making proactive investments in next-generation technologies such as wave-powered renewable energy AI data centers, with the aim of strengthening our competitiveness in the global AI infrastructure market across multiple dimensions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.