2026年4月19日 / 美国东部时间上午10:26 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
有两个全球性问题可能是你不愿去多想的。其一，燃烧天然气和煤炭仍在让地球持续变暖。其二，全美各地如雨后春笋般涌现的数千个人工智能数据中心消耗着海量电力，这会产生更多碳污染，还会推高我们的电费。正如加思·谢尔登-库尔森所言，这种情况不会停止。“我们仍处于这种需求的初始阶段，”他说道。
位于华盛顿州温哥华市的Panthalassa公司首席执行官兼联合创始人谢尔登-库尔森希望通过波浪能一举解决这两个问题。“海洋所能提供的能量确实是无限的，”他说，“它将成为地球上最便宜的能源。”
他将Panthalassa的测试机型Ocean-2比作浮动水电站。“随着它随波浪上下起伏，管内的水会被挤压到顶部。进入球形舱后，水流会推动涡轮机旋转，由此产生电力。”
Panthalassa Ocean-2波浪能转换器的测试画面，该设备可发电为海上数据中心供电。Panthalassa 供图
谢尔登-库尔森借助Panthalassa最新设计Ocean-3的模型，解释了最令人意外的一点：该设备既没有锚点，也没有电缆。它是一套自主推进系统，无需系泊在海床上。“它就像一台巨型扫地机器人，”他说道。
Panthalassa公司首席执行官兼联合创始人加思·谢尔登-库尔森与Ocean-3模型合影。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻 供图
这套系统也没有将电力输送回岸上的电缆。本质上来说，这些就是浮动数据中心。它们利用海浪发电，就地处理人工智能计算任务，再通过卫星将结果传回地面。
“当我们部署多台这类设备时，它们可以协同工作，组成一个数据中心，”谢尔登-库尔森表示，“因此，我们认为这是陆上数据中心的绝佳替代方案。”
Panthalassa已经获得了全部所需的私人融资，因为该公司为人工智能企业提供了比陆上建设数据中心更快捷、更清洁的供电方案。Ocean-3的建造工作正在顺利推进中。
谢尔登-库尔森预计，这些设备将于今年8月左右在近海投入使用。它们的优势是什么？“清洁环保，无需燃料，不占用陆地，不会干扰陆上其他活动，而且扩张速度极快，”他说道。
该公司最终希望在远海部署数千台这类设备。
“能在恰当的时机研发出这种更清洁、更可持续、且极具可扩展性的技术，真的令人兴奋，这样我们就能切实满足日益增长的算力需求，”谢尔登-库尔森说道。
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本报道由安妮·耶齐制作。编辑：埃马努埃莱·塞奇
Using the ocean to power data centers
April 19, 2026 / 10:26 AM EDT / CBS News
There are two global problems you probably don’t like to think about. First, burning gas and coal is still heating up the planet. Second, the thousands of AI data centers popping up all over the country consume enormous amounts of power, which produces even more carbon pollution – and drives up our electric bills. And as Garth Sheldon-Coulson says, this is not going to stop. “We’re still at the beginning of this demand,” he said.
Sheldon-Coulson, the CEO and co-founder of Panthalassa, in Vancouver, Wash., hopes to address both problems at once with wave energy. “The ocean is really unlimited in terms of how much energy is available,” he said. “It will really be the cheapest energy on the planet.”
He likened Panthalassa’s test model, the Ocean-2, to a floating hydroelectric dam. “As it goes up and down with the waves, it causes water that’s in that tube to be forced up into the top. Once it’s in the ball, the water is forced through a turbine. The turbine spins, and that’s what makes the electricity.”
A test of the Panthalassa Ocean-2 wave energy converter, which would generate electricity to power sea-based data centers. Panthalassa
Using a model of Panthalassa’s latest design, the Ocean-3, Sheldon-Coulson explained the most surprising part: there’s no anchor – and no cables. It’s a self-propelled system that is not tethered to the ocean floor. “It’s like a little Roomba, except it’s enormous,” he said.
Garth Sheldon-Coulson, CEO and co-founder of Panthalassa, with a model of the Ocean-3. CBS News
There’s no cable to bring power back to shore, either. In essence, these are floating data centers. They generate power from the waves; process AI computing tasks on the spot; and send us the answers by satellite.
“When you deploy many of our systems, they work together basically as a data center,” Sheldon-Coulson said. “So, we think of it as a really good alternative to data centers on land.”
Panthalassa has all of the private funding it needs, because it offers AI companies a quicker, cleaner way to get power than building data centers on land. Construction of the Ocean-3s is well under way.
Sheldon-Coulson expects them to be operating off-shore by around August of this year. Their advantages? “Clean, no fuel, no land use, no getting in the way of other activities on land, and very fast to scale,” he said.
Eventually, the company hopes to deploy thousands of them, far out at sea.
“It is really exciting that we’re working on something that is coming along right at the right time, in a way that’s much cleaner, much more sustainable, and quite scalable, so that we can really meet that demand as it comes,” Sheldon-Coulson said.
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Story produced by Annie Iezzi. Editor: Emanuele Secci.