A small Korean coastal city could soon host up to 100,000 AI servers
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South Korean city Ulsan is exploring underwater infrastructure as AI computing continues to strain land availability, power grids, and cooling systems nationwide.
The city is partnering with the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) to design a standardized subsea data center model.
Officials hope the approach can ease some of the site and cooling constraints that conventional data centers increasingly face across the country.
The partnership between Ulsan and KIOST runs through 2030, with a combined budget of KRW 51.1 billion (about $37 million) – KRW 40 billion (about $29 million) of which comes directly from the central government, with the remainder covered locally.
“Ulsan plans to complete the standard model by 2030 and begin developing an underwater data-center complex for commercialization from 2031,” the city said.
The goal is a working, carbon-neutral template for underwater computing that other sites could later replicate.
The project will take place in waters roughly 20 meters deep off the Ulsan coastline, where engineers plan to rely on seawater — which averages about 13.3°C annually — as a core part of the cooling strategy.
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Researchers intend to combine pressure-resistant vessel design with hybrid cooling systems described as ultra-high-efficiency by project planners.
Server units and power distribution equipment will follow standardized modular designs meant to simplify future scaling.
The team is aiming for an operating efficiency of approximately PUE 1.2 once testing concludes.
SK Telecom joined the partnership in January 2026, taking on responsibility for GPU-based infrastructure and server operations management.
In addition to Ulsan and KIOST, other research organizations, academics and industry professionals are part of the project working behind the scenes.
