Microsoft has a crazy project to build massive data centres under the sea
The project, code-named Natick, would submerge data centres underwater, using fibre optics to transfer to data back to land.
Because of the computers' processing power, data centres need a lot of cooling - which is why Facebook and Google build them in cold Nordic countries - and the depths of the sea provide this free.
According to the report, Microsoft is in the early stages of testing the technology, which if effective could reduce the time it takes to build a data centre to 90 days from two years. A 105-day trial, which submerged pods about 30 feet underwater, was more successful than expected.
The company is looking at two potential designs: one placing a data centre on the sea floor and another placing the centres in pods that are suspended under the surface and use turbines to capture energy from the currents.
"When I first heard about this I thought, 'Water ... electricity, why would you do that?'" Ben Cutler, a Microsoft computer designer, said in an interview with The New York Times. "But as you think more about it, it actually makes a lot of sense."
Here is a video Microsoft made about the project:
Data centres are used for a myriad of purposes - such as hosting online video or software - and big internet companies have sought out-of-the-way locations to build them, such as Iceland.
According to Microsoft, the company operates more than 100 data centres around the world and is looking to build new ones in Europe. The New York Times reports Microsoft has spent over $15 billion (£10 billion) on data centres globally.
The first pod to go beneath the surface, called Leona Philpot (a character from video game "Halo"), recently returned to the surface and is being checked by Microsoft in an effort to improve the design.
Microsoft is looking for a partner to design the pod in the future, according to the report, but has not yet found a suitable candidate.