WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Elon Musk's SpaceX announced the acquisition of xAI, creating what it calls the most ambitious, vertically integrated innovation engine on and off Earth. The combined effort spans rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile communications, and AI-all tied to a vision of extending human consciousness to the stars.
Current AI systems rely on massive terrestrial data centers that consume enormous amounts of electricity and cooling. SpaceX argues that this approach is unsustainable, and that the only logical path forward is to move compute into orbit, where near-constant solar power can be harnessed with minimal operating costs.
The company envisions launching a constellation of satellites that function as orbital data centers, each contributing to a scalable AI infrastructure. Starship, SpaceX's next-generation rocket, will play a central role by delivering hundreds of tons of payload per launch. With frequent flights, millions of tons of hardware could be placed into orbit annually, adding gigawatts of AI compute capacity without the limitations of Earth-based facilities.
In the longer term, lunar manufacturing and electromagnetic mass drivers could enable hundreds of terawatts of AI satellites to be deployed into deep space, advancing humanity toward a Kardashev II civilization capable of harnessing a significant fraction of the Sun's energy.
SpaceX frames this initiative not only as a technological leap but as a civilizational one-laying the foundation for permanent bases on the Moon, cities on Mars, and ultimately humanity's expansion across the Universe.
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