UC San Diego to build data center from 2,000 retired Pixel phones

Google and UC San Diego researchers are repurposing old smartphones into low-carbon cloud servers, with a planned data center composed of 2,000 retired Pixel phones set to launch in fall 2026, according to Fox News.

Fox NewsGoogle turns old phones into cloud servers

The project, described by worldnewsguru as "phone cluster computing," involves removing the motherboards from discarded phones and redeploying them as computing nodes in a data center. Instead of adding to the e-waste stream, the initiative taps into the still-powerful processors of phones that consumers might otherwise throw away.

"Instead of treating old phones as e-waste, the initiative aims to harness their still-useful processing power for cloud computing, reducing environmental impact."

Fox News reported that Google says UC San Diego will launch the 2,000-phone data center in fall 2026, turning retired smartphone motherboards into low-carbon servers. The concept challenges the typical view of smartphone life cycles, where devices often become obsolete within a few years.

The "phone cluster computing" method, as worldnewsguru detailed, could offer a way for data centers to lower their carbon footprint by reusing existing hardware rather than manufacturing new servers. Google and UC San Diego are exploring how these repurposed motherboards can handle cloud computing workloads efficiently.