SpaceX says it has acquired xAI to create a vertically integrated “innovation engine” spanning AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile communications, and a major real-time information/free-speech platform—positioned as a major step in its long-term mission to extend “the light of consciousness” beyond Earth.
The core infrastructure claim is that terrestrial data centers cannot scale AI fast enough without straining power and cooling resources and imposing environmental/community costs—so space-based AI is presented as the only long-term path to meeting exploding compute demand. The announcement argues orbital systems can tap near-constant solar energy (“always sunny in space”) and shift resource-intensive compute away from Earth.
A central proposal is a constellation of “orbital data centers”—potentially a million satellites—enabled by dramatically higher launch capacity and cadence. The announcement sketches an aggressive scaling model:
- hourly launches carrying ~200 tons each
- delivering millions of tons to orbit per year
- and (by its estimate) ~100 gigawatts of AI compute capacity annually at ~100 kW per ton, with a longer-term path toward terawatt-per-year deployment
It further claims that within 2–3 years, the lowest-cost AI compute could be achieved in space, with cost-efficiency driving faster model training and data processing.
Finally, the announcement extends the roadmap beyond Earth orbit: using heavy cargo delivery plus in-space propellant transfer to support major operations on the Moon, then leveraging lunar manufacturing and mass drivers to deploy vastly larger-scale compute into deep space—framing this as a way to fund permanent off-world presence and ultimately enable expansion toward Mars.
The announcement is signed “Ad Astra!” by Elon Musk.
Source: SpaceX
