Samsung is building floating data centers on ships, and it's already got regulatory approval

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Does AI Float?: The need for massive infrastructure to store digital data is growing, so tech giants are trying some novel approaches. Samsung's shipbuilding division, for example, would like to move AI data centers away from the mainland and out to sea.

Hitachi recently announced a partnership with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines to develop floating systems to host self-sustaining AI data center facilities. Now, Samsung Heavy Industries is cooperating with different partners to fully develop its novel Floating Data Centers (FDC) concept. Samsung Heavy Industries is a South Korean shipbuilding company that's part of the wider Samsung Group conglomerate.

While Hitachi is working with Mitsui to convert existing vessels into "refurbished" data center plants, Samsung HI is doing something different. The Korean corporation recently signed an agreement with Capital Clean Energy Carriers, a Greece-based shipowner, to develop new data-ready vessels from scratch.