Science

Big tech's next move is to put data centers in space. Can it work?

APRIL 3, 20265:00 AM ET
HEARD ON MORNING EDITION

Standing before a friendly crowd in March, Elon Musk laid out his plan for the future of his companies, and it was literally out of this world.

Musk announced that his space-launch company, SpaceX, which had recently merged with his artificial intelligence company, xAI, would put data centers into orbit around the Earth.

It all comes down to electricity, he explained. "You're power constrained on Earth," he said. "Space has the advantage that it's always sunny."

Musk envisions legions of data-crunching satellites spinning around the planet, powering the AI revolution from above. It's the perfect pitch for taking SpaceX public. This week, Bloomberg reported that the company had filed documents confidentially to the Securities and Exchange Commission with the goal of listing an initial public offering this summer.

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