tech
Elon Musk Has Given Up on Solar Power (on Earth)
Elon Musk's xAI has gone all in on natural gas, while SpaceX is obsessed with orbital data centers. What happened to the "solar-electric economy" he promised?
TL;DR
- Elon Musk's companies are increasingly moving away from his initial vision of a solar-electric economy.
- xAI is using natural gas turbines to power its data centers and plans to purchase more, despite Musk's past emphasis on clean energy.
- SpaceX's filing highlights a focus on space-based solar power for orbital data centers, mentioning terrestrial solar only in comparison.
- SpaceX has made significant purchases from other Musk companies, including Tesla's Megapacks and Cybertrucks, but not substantial amounts of Tesla's solar panels for terrestrial use.
- The move towards space-based data centers by SpaceX is driven by the growing demand for AI compute power and potential opposition to terrestrial data centers (NIMBYism).
- The economics and technical feasibility of space-based data centers face significant challenges, including high power costs and the difficulty of protecting equipment in space.
- Musk's 'first principles' thinking suggests a belief that AI compute demands will vastly outstrip Earth's current power capabilities, necessitating extraterrestrial solutions.
- The article suggests that pursuing ambitious space-based solutions should not preclude continued efforts to improve and utilize terrestrial solar power.