The Conflict Between Sam Altman and Elon Musk: Are Space Data Centers Real?

The ongoing public feud between two leading figures in the AI world — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX founder Elon Musk — has sparked new discussions in the tech industry. This time, the debate centers on a project for space-based data centers. Sam Altman called the idea of creating computing power in space a mere promise invented to attract investors. This is reported by Techcrunch.com reports. .

It all started with Elon Musk accusing Altman of fraud. In response, the OpenAI head accused Musk of selling a short-term space data center project to public market investors. Behind Altman's sarcasm lies a sentiment shared by many industry experts: space data centers are unlikely to become a serious business in the near future.

SpaceX is attempting to justify its two-trillion-dollar valuation with plans to launch a fleet of orbital centers that perform AI tasks in space. Analysts suggest that such capabilities could create unprecedented opportunities for SpaceX AI models or launch an orbital neo-cloud service. However, industry experts and engineers remain quite cautious about this.

Technical barriers and economic inefficiency

According to the team at Google working on orbital computing projects and other startup founders, the space data center project will not be viable until rocket costs drop drastically and mass production of high-capacity satellites is established. For now, this technology cannot compete with terrestrial data centers.

Elon Musk points to the Starship rocket as a solution to these problems. If SpaceX can make this massive rocket fully reusable, the cost of transporting cargo to space could drop. However, the Starship project is still in the testing phase, and even after successful tests, the company will primarily focus on its obligations to NASA and expanding the Starlink network.

It is also worth noting that in meetings with investors, SpaceX admitted that the second stage of the Starship rocket may not be fully reusable in the near future. This makes space data centers economically unviable. Musk's promise to "start flights next year" is being met with skepticism by experts.

In conclusion, while SpaceX might launch a single high-speed data processing satellite next year, turning this into a large-scale system is unlikely to be resolved before the 2030s. The criticism from Sam Altman and other experts is based precisely on this realistic timeline.