Peter Thiel Invests $140 Million in Ocean-Based Data Centers

Panthalassa raises $140M for ocean-based data centers, led by Peter Thiel.

The American startup Panthalassa, which is developing autonomous floating data centers powered by wave energy, has raised $140 million, valuing the company at approximately $1 billion.

Today we’re announcing @_panthalassa’s $140M Series B, led by Peter Thiel, with participation from John Doerr and many other incredible investors. The mission: unlock the ocean as another planetary-scale energy resource for humanity. First stop: compute. pic.twitter.com/uNO2hehyEf

— Garth Sheldon-Coulson (@garthsc) May 4, 2026

The round was led by billionaire Peter Thiel through his personal fund. According to the Financial Times, the funding also included participation from Gigascale Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, Unless, and several notable tech investors, including Marc Benioff, Max Levchin, and John Doerr.

According to Panthalassa CEO Garth Sheldon-Coulson, the funds will be used to complete a pilot manufacturing plant in the United States and prepare for the deployment of the first commercial Ocean-3 nodes in the Pacific Ocean.

Ocean-Based Data Centers

Panthalassa is building computing nodes for artificial intelligence. Each node is an 85-meter steel autonomous platform.

The platforms are planned to be placed in the open ocean. Initially, they will be towed horizontally across the water. They will then flip to a vertical position and reach their deployment site without engines, using a specially designed hull that harnesses wave energy.

The company does not disclose exact coordinates: the locations are in remote areas of the Pacific Ocean, away from shipping routes.

Electricity is generated by water movement through built-in turbines, powering AI servers directly on board. The computation results are transmitted to clients via SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network.

Locating in the ocean addresses the cooling issue: seawater is used to dissipate heat, extending the lifespan of the chips.

Representatives of the startup claim to have already tested several prototypes—Ocean-1, Ocean-2, and Wavehopper—in real conditions. The commercial launch of the first full-fledged Ocean-3 is scheduled for 2027.

Exotic Energy Sources for AI

Investor interest in Panthalassa is driven by the rapidly growing shortage of computing power. Amid the AI boom, the market is already seeking unconventional power sources for data centers—from restarting nuclear reactors to space-based solar stations.

Peter Thiel described the startup’s idea as opening “a new oceanic frontier of computation.” He stated that the demand for computing will be enormous, and finding new energy sources is no longer science fiction.

The head of Panthalassa noted that the energy of the open ocean could become one of the few truly scalable clean sources, capable of providing tens of terawatts of power—alongside solar, wind, and nuclear energy.

In March, the Australian startup Cortical Labs introduced a “data center” based on human brain cells.