Altman criticizes Musk’s space data center as ‘ridiculous’

“I think placing a data center in space is really ridiculous, considering the current context,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an interview with Indian media last week, making many followers laugh.

He affirmed that orbital data centers could become a reality in the future, but emphasized that there will still be a series of difficult barriers to overcome such as the cost of launching satellites and difficulties in repairing space equipment.

“Now is not the time to be ripe. Space is wonderful for many things. Large-scale data centers in space will not become a reality this decade,” he added.

Billionaire Elon Musk has not commented on the information.

Musk said on February 3 that he decided to merge xAI into SpaceX to serve the goal of building data centers in space.

According to documents filed by SpaceX with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier this month, the company is asking for permission to launch a large-scale satellite constellation to deploy the project directly in Earth orbit.

SpaceX says the project helps take advantage of almost continuous solar energy, reducing operating and maintenance costs compared to a ground-based facility. The company also affirms that this model can reduce environmental impact, as there is no need to use cooling water or consume electricity from the residential grid.

Satellites for data centers are expected to operate in low Earth orbit, communicating with each other using laser technology. SpaceX describes this as the first step toward the ability to harness solar energy on a large scale for future technology operations.

Despite the skepticism of people like Sam Altman, some technology leaders are also racing to put data centers in space. Google’s Suncatcher project is one of them, with CEO Sundar Pichai claiming the company could begin deploying solar-powered data infrastructure in space as early as 2027.