Microsoft has deployed a submarine-like data center into the waters off the coast of Orkney, a group of islands located off Scotland.

The tech giant said Wednesday that it had sunk the 40-foot-long vessel from the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC), a research base focused on wave and tidal power.

The aim is to improve internet speeds in areas that are close to the water, where infrastructure is often lacking. Things like video streaming and gaming, in particular, rely on stronger processing infrastructure to connect to the internet.

"Almost half of the world's population lives near large bodies of water," Cindy Rose, Microsoft's U.K. chief executive, said in a blog post Wednesday. "Having data centers closer to billions of people using the internet will ensure faster and smoother web browsing, video streaming and gaming, while businesses can enjoy AI (artificial intelligence)-driven technologies."