Why AI Data Centers in Space Aren’t Totally Science Fiction
Tech billionaires want to move AI’s massive energy demands off Earth. The engineering hurdles are enormous.
What could a space-based data center look like? We asked an artist to imagine something far out.
Illustration: Saratta ChuengsatiansupIn explaining why he was combining his space exploration and artificial intelligence companies SpaceX and xAI, Elon Musk pointed to his latest grand vision: putting a vast array of data centers into space.
It sounds like a plan out of science fiction, but it’s not just Musk who envisions a future where data centers orbiting Earth do complex computing for artificial intelligence. Rival space billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin LLC, has spoken frequently in recent months of developing this technology, and former chief executive officer of Google, Eric Schmidt, purchased a rocket startup, Relativity Space, with the apparent aim of using the firm to launch data centers.