On February 2nd, SpaceX acquired xAI, an artificial intelligence company founded by Musk in 2023. SpaceX was founded in 2002 and quickly became the main supplier of satellite-based internet around the world; there are over 9,000 satellites orbiting Earth, used by both consumers and governments. On the other hand, xAI builds AI that understands the world- answers questions, reasons, and helps humans understand complexity. It questions everything, rather than spitting out one-line answers to questions.
Later this year, SpaceX is expected to pursue an initial public offering. Thus, this deal wasn't made now as a coincidence. Musk stated in a statement that the deal creates "the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world's foremost real-time information and free speech platform."
Artificial intelligence requires substantial energy to be built and run due to the intensive computational power needed to run massive models. The combination of xAI and SpaceX will lead to the establishment of data centers in outer space. Importantly, the World Economic Forum recently published an article about how data centers in space will sustainably enable the AI revolution. The article states that this is because space "offers a natural environment for high-efficiency, sustainable computing providing solutions to the very challenges that limit terrestrial development."
Furthermore, orbital data centers are attractive due to the fact that, as a Forbes article writes, space shields data centers from "weather impacts, grid failures, and numerous regional or geopolitical disruptions." There are various upsides to the performance of data centers in space. For one, there are no land restrictions in space, so large compute systems can operate easily. There is also passive cooling in space, which means objects cool down naturally in space.
It is evident that people's perception of space is changing; rather than solely being viewed as a frontier to explore, it is becoming a place to utilize our most novel technology. This deal poses the possibility of rapid technological advancement during a time we already name the digital age.
Episode 260 of the "ALL IN" podcast is an interesting one to listen to for those more curious about the impact of this deal on our future!
