Sou Hu Cai Jing·2026-02-23 00:11Core Viewpoint - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman believes that the concept of orbital data centers is impractical in the current context, citing economic and technical challenges associated with launching data centers into space [2][3]. Group 1: OpenAI's Perspective - Altman stated that the idea of sending data centers into space is absurd given the current circumstances, particularly due to the high launch costs and difficulties in addressing issues related to components like GPUs [3]. - He acknowledged the future potential of orbital data centers but emphasized that the technology is not yet at that stage [3]. Group 2: Elon Musk and SpaceX's Vision - Elon Musk has been advocating for the establishment of data centers in space, claiming that the lowest cost for deploying artificial intelligence will be in space, with a target timeline of two to three years [3]. - Musk's vision includes integrating xAI with SpaceX to accelerate the orbital data center project, which aims to create a network of one million satellites functioning as orbital data centers [3]. Group 3: Google's Initiatives - Google is also exploring the concept of space data centers, with CEO Sundar Pichai describing the initiative as a "moonshot" project aimed at developing a solar-powered system that exceeds Earth's current energy production capabilities [4]. - Pichai mentioned that Google plans to take the first step towards this goal by deploying small equipment racks on satellites by 2027, expressing confidence that this approach will become a conventional method for building data centers in about ten years [4][5]. - The internal project at Google, named "Project Suncatcher," aims to utilize solar energy from space to address the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence while reducing the environmental impact of traditional data centers [5].