Space-Based AI: Musk's Plan for AI Data Centres on the Moon
Elon Musk's aerospace venture SpaceX is acquiring his AI startup xAI, creating a single company valued in the region of US$1.25tn.
The aim of the new organisation is to build AI satellites which operate as solar-powered orbital data centres – all based in space.
AI is known to require immense volumes of water and power. Musk is bidding to find a solution which extends beyond Earth's current means of solar energy use, with space being the answer.
Currently, Earth intercepts a total 173,000 terawatts (trillions of watts) of solar energy, which is 10,000 times more energy than the planet uses.
"To harness even a millionth of our Sun's energy would require over a million times more energy than our civilisation currently uses," said Musk as he announced the combination.
"The only logical solution therefore is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space. By directly harnessing near-constant solar power with little operating or maintenance costs, these satellites will transform our ability to scale compute.
"My estimate is that, within two to three years, the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space."
Manufacturing on the Moon
Along with AI satellites which work as data centres, Musk is targeting scientific and manufacturing pursuits on the Moon.
To do so, Starship, the largest and most powerful spacecraft ever built, is set to deliver Starlink satellites to orbit, carrying 200 tons per flight.
Once cargo has landed on the Moon, it will be possible to establish "a permanent presence for scientific and manufacturing pursuits," Musk continued.
He added: "Factories on the Moon can take advantage of lunar resources to manufacture satellites and deploy them further into space.
"By using an electromagnetic mass driver and lunar manufacturing, it is possible to put 500 to 1000TW/year of AI satellites into deep space, meaningfully ascend the Kardashev scale and harness a non-trivial percentage of the Sun's power."
The Kardashev scale is used to measure a civilisation's use of energy in the universe. Humanity is beneath the first level on the scale because it does not use all the available energy on Earth.
Takeaways from the World Economic Forum
Musk recently spoke at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting about the potential of AI and robotics, and strongly believes these technologies will fuel the global economy.
He argued that, if AI, robotics and solar power can be deployed more broadly, they could unlock an era of unprecedented global abundance.
Musk also discussed how solar energy can overcome existing energy constraints that we have on Earth and explained the reusability of Starship, which could hugely reduce the cost of access to space.
He said: "If you had to throw away an aircraft after every flight, that would be a very expensive flight. If you only have to refuel, then it's the cost of the fuel."
An AI-centric future
Elon Musk is the owner of 10 companies, only two of which have not been brought under one of his larger operations: Neuralink and The Boring Company, an infrastructure and construction company.
xAI started out as a division of X before becoming a more valuable entity. It then acquired X in an all-stock deal, with Musk saying the would "combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent".
As demand for AI in business accelerates, alongside Elon Musk’s ambitions to extend its use beyond Earth, the potential for an AI-first future is growing.
Companies may increasingly rely on shared models and technologies to operate more intelligently, automate further and, in Musk’s case, support space missions across his wider portfolio.
