Proposed underwater AI data centers raise concerns for endangered whales

AI company DeepGreen Holdings has proposed building underwater data centers off Western Passage, Maine, and Upper Cook Inlet, Alaska. The projects have drawn concern because both areas are home to endangered whale populations.

The proposal describes facilities covering about 1,650 acres, with 66 compute pods and 300 tidal turbines. The source also refers to a recently pitched $100 million project, but does not clarify how that figure relates to the two proposed sites.

The Gulf of Maine is linked to critical habitat for the North Atlantic right whale. Upper Cook Inlet is designated critical habitat for the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale. Whales use echolocation for feeding, navigation and social activity, and researchers say construction noise could adversely affect them. The source also reports that heat from the data centers could drive away cold-water prey the whales need.

Cooper Freeman of the Alaska Center for Biological Diversity called the proposal “just really outrageous” and said the group was deeply concerned about its potential harms. The article says researchers and members of the public have also raised objections, while some commenters questioned whether underwater data centers could prove feasible over the long term.