Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel is spearheading a $140 million financing round for Panthalassa, an Oregon‑based start‑up that converts wave motion into electricity for floating AI data centres. The infusion lifts the company’s valuation to nearly $1 billion and positions it to scale a pilot manufacturing plant aimed at commercial roll‑out next year.

Panthalassa’s 85‑metre steel nodes sit mostly below the surface, housing hermetically sealed AI servers cooled by seawater. Their hull shape propels them without engines, allowing deployment in remote, high‑wave zones. Co‑founder and CEO Garth Sheldon‑Coulson says the design avoids traditional gearboxes, enabling rapid, low‑cost manufacturing from abundant steel and eliminating the need to transmit power back to shore. Maintenance crews can retrieve the units for upgrades without disrupting ocean currents, further lowering operational costs.

Backers include Salesforce chief Marc Benioff, PayPal co‑founder Max Levchin and early Google investor John Doerr, who called the venture a potential “game changer” for clean power. With AI demand outstripping traditional grids, Panthalassa’s wave‑driven farms could offer a carbon‑free, 24/7 energy source, expanding the compute supply chain beyond land‑based data centres. It will also license wave‑conversion patents to third‑party operators.