UC San Diego turns 2000 old Pixel phones into eco cloud data centre

A research team at UC San Diego is developing a low-carbon cloud data center using 2,000 retired Google Pixel smartphones, launching in autumn 2026. This initiative, called "phone cluster computing," aims to tackle the issue of embodied carbon from hardware manufacturing. By repurposing smartphones, which are typically discarded every four years, the project not only reduces environmental impact but also utilizes the significant computational power still present in older devices.

The smartphones will be dismantled to retain only key components, and software adaptations will enable effective cloud computing capabilities. This approach seeks to transform consumer electronics into valuable data center assets, addressing both technological and environmental challenges.