Elon Musk Plans Data Centers in Space Because Earth’s Power Grid Sucks
KEY POINTS
- •Elon Musk and SpaceX intend to fund orbiting AI data centers via an upcoming public offering.
- •OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, despite legal battles with Musk, aims to build competing orbital infrastructure through acquiring Stoke Space.
- •Google owns 7% of SpaceX and is invested in rival projects amid a staggering $500 billion AI data center expansion this year.
Elon Musk’s latest scheme involves launching gigantic AI data centers into orbit aboard SpaceX’s Starship, the mega-rocket judged powerful enough to haul bulky cooling systems that Earth-bound rockets can’t lift. With a rumored $1.5 trillion valuation, SpaceX hints it’ll pretend to fix Earth’s overloaded power grids by orbiting AI chips that sunbathe 24/7 in space’s eternal sunlight. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s Sam Altman — too busy suing Musk to collab — plans to buy rival startup Stoke Space to build his own orbital data reptile zoo. Google’s chilling with 7% of SpaceX (valued at $100 billion), sweating bullets over $500 billion in AI expansion on Earth, apparently betting on Musk not to turn outer space into a giant, radioactive hot mess. Musk promises foldable radiators in orbit to keep chips from turning into molten silicon, but skeptics say it’s the engineering equivalent of inventing space-air conditioning. The future is here, just further away and way more expensive.
Share the Story
AI data centers overheating on Earth? Just launch billions into space, because fixing power grids is so 2023. Musk’s orbiting chill machines will prove either revolutionary or a $1.5 trillion cosmic beach party disaster.
Musk’s plan to keep AI running non-stop by orbiting it above Earth's grumpy power grids sounds less like innovation and more like cosmic procrastination.
Nothing says futurism like dumping servers in orbit and expecting solar rays and foldable radiators to fix decades of data center chaos.
Source: Axios | Published: 1/19/2026 | Author: Jim VandeHei
More Articles in Technology
Congress Promises Health Care Deal Today, As Long As Nobody Remembers 2024
Woman Survives 15 Years Without Mom’s Laundry Help, Still Cries
Americans Plan To Go From Peaceful Walkouts To Possibly Punching Things
OpenAI Promises 2026 Will Finally Get AI to Do Literally Something Useful
Marathon Shooter Delayed From September To March Because Patience Is A Virtue Nobody Ordered
Meta’s Threads Silently Outsmarts Elon’s X, Leaves Musk Talking to Himself
Car Companies Shrink EVs and Features Because America Said 'No Thanks' to $70K
Microsoft's First 2026 Windows Update Breaks Shutdown, Requires Emergency Fix
