VANCOUVER, WASH. — Panthalassa expects its Ocean-3 wave energy converters to begin operating offshore by around August, powering floating data centers designed to handle artificial intelligence computing tasks. The systems generate electricity from ocean waves, process AI workloads on site, and transmit results by satellite, eliminating the need for cables to bring power back to shore.

The Ocean-3 design has no anchor or cables and is self-propelled rather than tethered to the ocean floor. "It's like a little Roomba, except it's enormous," said Garth Sheldon-Coulson, CEO and co-founder of Panthalassa.

The company's earlier test model, the Ocean-2, was built to generate electricity for sea-based data centers. Sheldon-Coulson likened that device to a floating hydroelectric dam, describing how it converts wave motion into power. "As it goes up and down with the waves, it causes water that's in that tube to be forced up into the top. Once it's in the ball, the water is forced through a turbine. The turbine spins, and that's what makes the electricity," he said.

Construction of the Ocean-3 systems is well under way, and Panthalassa aims to eventually deploy thousands of the units far out at sea. The company has secured the private funding it needs. AI data centers consume significant amounts of electricity, and Sheldon-Coulson said the wave energy approach addresses both planet warming from burning gas and coal and rising energy demand from AI computing. "It is really exciting that we're working on something that is coming along right at the right time, in a way that's much cleaner, much more sustainable, and quite scalable, so that we can really meet that demand as it comes," he said.