US startup Aikido, has unveiled AO60DC, a global first-of-its-kind floating offshore wind turbine that also hosts artificial intelligence (AI) compute alongside integrated battery storage, El.kz reports citing Interesting Engineering.
This paves the way for greener AI usage powered entirely by clean energy generated by the turbine at sea.
The growing use of AI in our daily lives has driven up demand for power and water to run data centers that power the AI. The GPUs used to power AI applications are power-hungry, while large amounts of water are needed to cool the chips that answer questions posed by users around the globe.
In response to questions about the need for energy-intensive AI to do the job that search engines have been doing for years, AI companies are promising to use renewable energy sources to power their data centers in the future.
However, the cooling infrastructure relies on aquifers and other water sources, putting pressure on local communities where the data centers are being built.
San Francisco-based Aikido Technologies hopes to resolve both problems for AI companies with its offshore turbine option, which can host AI compute.
First deployment soon
The onboard battery storage can also be charged using energy from the grid ahead of grid stress events. The data halls can be pre-fabricated onshore and then lifted into place during final integration.
Aikido expects the platform to achieve a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.08, thanks to passive cooling that transfers heat from the AI compute to the surroundings via the steel hull. The thermal impact of this is expected to be minimal and localized to the area surrounding the structure.
The company also suggests that fleets in place to service offshore or oil and gas platforms can be deployed to maintain its facilities as well. Manning these facilities could also ensure that data centers deliver the uptime required as per industrial standards.
The company is currently working on a proof-of-concept in Norway, while a commercial deployment is planned in the UK to be operational by 2028.
“Aikido is well positioned to integrate proven, offshore components with typical data hall construction techniques to build GW-scale AI factories faster, cleaner, cheaper and more efficiently than conventional techniques.”