Things that Microsoft hasn't done in 10 years, these cities are running into the field.

In 2024, Noel Walsh, head of Microsoft's Cloud Operations and Innovation department, stated, "Microsoft will not build underwater data centers anywhere in the world." After a decade of validation of the technology by Silicon Valley giants, the Natick underwater data center project was ultimately shut down. However, in China, a number of coastal cities have taken up the baton to build underwater data centers. According to incomplete statistics, there are already about 10 coastal cities/regions in the country that have clearly planned, signed contracts, or started the construction of underwater data centers. Projects related to Linghsui in Hainan, Lingang in Shanghai, Yangjiang and Shantou in Guangdong have officially started operations or are under construction. The demand for computing power is still growing exponentially. According to IDC forecasts, global computing power demand in 2030 will be 10 times that of 2025. With more and more national teams entering the underwater data center projects, China is for the first time leveraging underwater computing power as a major strategic project to power this future industry.