Elon Musk Backs ARK Invest's Brett Winton, Who Said Orbital Data Centers Could Solve AI Scaling Challenges

On Tuesday, tech billionaire Elon Musk endorsed ARK Invest's chief futurist Brett Winton's prediction that putting data centers in orbit could become cheaper and more efficient as AI demand skyrockets.

AI's Growing Demands Push Innovation Beyond Earth

As artificial intelligence workloads surge, traditional land-based data centers face soaring costs for power and cooling.

Winton explained on X that on Earth, the 100th gigawatt deployed will almost certainly be more costly, complex and time-intensive than the first, but in space, the opposite is true.

"The 100th orbital GW could be 1/3rd as costly as the 1st," Winton wrote.

Musk shared Winton's post, calling ARK's insights "great."

Elon Musk Bets On Space To Power AI With Solar Satellites

Musk has been betting on orbit as the future of AI, making it central to his $1.25 trillion plan to merge SpaceX with his struggling startup xAI.

He plans to take the merged company public this year and predicts that fleets of solar-powered satellites, naturally cooled by space, could soon become the most cost-effective way to power AI within the next three years.

Space Data Centers Could Slash AI Costs With Free Solar Power, Cooling

Previously, veteran investor Gavin Baker echoed the logic, saying that orbital data centers could address AI's physical constraints.

In space, solar energy is available 24 hours a day and is roughly 30% more intense without atmospheric interference,  Baker said.

"Cooling is free…you just point a radiator into the dark side of orbit," where temperatures could approach absolute zero, he added.

Speed And Efficiency Advantages in Orbit

Baker also highlighted latency benefits. Unlike fiber optic cables on Earth, lasers traveling through a vacuum can transmit data faster, offering potential speed advantages for AI networks.

Tech giants are taking note. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai has confirmed plans to deploy prototype orbital servers by 2027, while OpenAI reportedly explored acquiring a launch provider to support its own space ambitions. 

Skeptics Cite Cost And Logistics

Earlier this month, Amazon.com, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services CEO Matt Garman cautioned that the concept remains impractical today.

Getting heavy equipment into orbit is massive and expensive, he said, adding that there aren't "enough rockets to launch a million satellites yet."

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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