China just beat us. Not only do they have more energy, but they have now developed underwater data centers. Now why didn’t we think of that? Actually, Microsoft pioneered this years ago with Project Natick. But there is a difference in a proof of concept and a nation-wide rollout. However, Microsoft abandoned Project Natick in 2024.
Water is scarce and cooling costs money. China will now be able to operationalize these savings, they won’t just beat us on tech—they’ll underprice us out of the market just like they always do. They commercialized what we invented only to have us walk away from the idea. Sound familiar? It’s becoming a tired refrain in American tech: we invent the future in a lab, only to watch China build it at scale while we move on to the next shiny object. This isn’t a new story; it’s just the latest chapter.