Samsung has floated plans to bring its underwater datacentre concept to market by 2028, a move that could reshape how data is stored and processed in the UK and beyond. The South Korean technology giant has been testing submerged server farms for several years, and now aims to commercialise the approach using ocean water as a natural coolant, dramatically cutting the electricity typically consumed by air-conditioning systems in traditional facilities.
The concept involves placing sealed, watertight modules on the seabed, connected to shore via fibre-optic cables. Samsung claims the consistent cold temperatures of deep water could reduce power usage for cooling by up to 40 per cent compared with land-based datacentres. For UK businesses grappling with rising energy costs and net-zero targets, this could offer a more sustainable path for handling ever-growing volumes of data from AI workloads, cloud services, and streaming.
However, the plan comes with significant regulatory and practical hurdles. The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) would need to ensure data stored in underwater facilities meets domestic data protection standards, particularly if modules are placed in international waters. The EU's AI Act, which applies to any organisation processing data of EU citizens, may also impose additional compliance requirements around transparency and risk management for AI models hosted on these platforms.
Environmental groups have raised concerns about the potential impact on marine life, including noise pollution from cooling pumps and the risk of leaks from the modules themselves. Samsung has stated it is conducting environmental impact assessments and selecting sites with minimal ecological sensitivity, but independent experts caution that long-term effects remain poorly understood.
For the UK economy, the technology could attract investment in subsea infrastructure and create jobs in marine engineering and data centre operations. But it also raises questions about data sovereignty—if a UK company's data sits in a module anchored off another nation's coast, which country's laws apply? Legal experts suggest international treaties on seabed data storage are still in their infancy, and the UK may need to push for clearer frameworks to protect digital assets.
Dr Helena Cross, a technology policy researcher at the University of Cambridge, told UKPulse Media: 'Underwater datacentres are an intriguing solution to the energy and space constraints facing the sector, but they introduce a layer of geopolitical and environmental complexity that cannot be ignored. The UK has a chance to lead on setting standards for this technology, but it must act quickly before commercial rollouts outpace regulation.'