Field NotesWhat we're learning about AI and the environment

A learning from Project Natick: Microsoft's underwater data center, Microsoft

Surprise

It worked, and Microsoft stopped anyway

⚠ Not yet claimed by the project owner or their organization. This information may not be completely accurate.

From public sources: in 2024 a Microsoft executive told DatacenterDynamics the experiment worked but that the company was not building undersea data centers, and would apply what it learned about operations and vibration elsewhere. A successful pilot is not always the start of a rollout.

Track
Greener AI
Environmental problem
WaterEnergy
Environmental goal
Cut emissions
Setting
OceanData centers
AI's role
None or minimal
ML technique
None or not technique-specific
Scale
Industry

Shared 28 Oct 2026 by Field Notes curator (public sources).

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