Takeaways

• Peter Thiel has led a $140 million funding round for Panthalassa to advance wave-powered AI computing.
• The company’s offshore nodes generate clean energy from ocean waves and run AI systems directly at sea.
• The approach could ease pressure on land-based data centers facing power, cooling, and infrastructure constraints.

Clean energy startup Panthalassa has secured $140 million in a Series B funding round led by investor Peter Thiel, marking a significant step toward powering AI computing using ocean waves. The company plans to use the fresh capital to scale its technology and expand deployments in offshore environments.

The funding comes at a time when global demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure is surging. Traditional data centers are increasingly under strain due to rising electricity needs, limited grid capacity, water shortages for cooling, and delays in approvals and construction. Panthalassa’s approach aims to bypass many of these challenges by taking computing power offshore.

Founded in 2016 and based in Portland, Oregon, Panthalassa has developed a system of floating nodes that harness wave energy to generate clean electricity. These nodes do not send power back to land. Instead, they use the energy on-site to run AI computing systems. The processed data is then transmitted via low-Earth-orbit satellites.

Read More: Why AI Is Bad for the Environment: Real Costs in 2026

This model offers a key advantage: Natural cooling. By operating in the open ocean, the system uses surrounding seawater to cool AI chips, reducing the need for energy-intensive cooling systems that land-based facilities rely on.

Speaking on the investment, Thiel highlighted the growing need for computing power, suggesting that future demand could exceed current expectations. He noted that ocean-based infrastructure is no longer a distant concept but an emerging solution.

Panthalassa’s CEO, Garth Sheldon-Coulson, pointed to the vast untapped potential of ocean energy. According to him, the open ocean, along with solar and nuclear, represents one of the few energy sources capable of delivering massive new capacity. The company’s technology focuses on high-energy wave regions far from shore, converting that power into a steady and sustainable energy source.

The startup has already tested its concept through earlier prototypes, including Ocean-1 in 2021 and Ocean-2 in 2024. With the new funding, Panthalassa plans to complete a pilot manufacturing facility near Portland and accelerate production of its next-generation Ocean-3 nodes. These are expected to be deployed in the northern Pacific Ocean by 2026, with commercial operations targeted for 2027.

The funding round also drew support from prominent investors such as John Doerr and firms linked to Marc Benioff and Max Levchin, along with several sustainability-focused investment groups and returning backers.

Doerr described the company’s wave-powered system as a major breakthrough in clean energy, noting that it could deliver benefits across industries while strengthening technological capabilities.

Also Read: Digital Edge ESG Report 2026: How AI Energy Demand Is Reshaping Data Centres

As AI adoption continues to grow, innovations like Panthalassa’s could reshape how and where computing infrastructure is built, moving it away from crowded land-based systems and into the vast energy reserves of the ocean.

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Source: ESGtoday