Talking at a tech convention in San Francisco on Tuesday, Garman threw some chilly water on the notion of space-based information facilities, which have been touted by Elon Musk and others as the way forward for AI.
Whereas placing AI information facilities in house has apparent advantages, together with the flexibility to harness vitality instantly from the solar and the flexibility to chill the heat-generating gear within the chilly environment of house, Garman stated there are additionally some large obstacles to placing information facilities in house or on different planets. Chief amongst them is the price of transporting gear.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen a rack of servers lately: They’re heavy,” Garman stated in an interview on the Cisco AI Summit in reply to a query in regards to the viability of space-based information facilities. “And last I checked, humanity has yet to build a permanent structure in space. So … maybe.”
The feedback come at some point after Musk introduced the merger of SpaceX, his rocket firm, together with his AI firm, xAI, in a deal that reportedly values the mixed firms at a staggering $1.25 billion.
“The capabilities we unlock by making space-based data centers a reality will fund and enable self-growing bases on the Moon, an entire civilization on Mars, and ultimately expansion to the Universe,” Musk wrote in a weblog submit Monday saying the deal.
The trendy information facilities that energy AI companies, together with chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok, are large behemoths that may span tens of millions of sq. ft and are filled with a lot {hardware} that they should be constructed on high of strengthened concrete slabs.
Musk’s SpaceX has a profitable observe file of launching 1000’s of its internet-beaming Starlink satellites into orbit on its Falcon rockets, and Musk has floated formidable plans to make use of its Starship rocket to launch as many as 1 million satellites into house—an quantity that’s far larger than the full variety of objects launched into house in historical past. The blizzard of Starlink launches would result in enhancements in SpaceX’s rockets that can make house primarily based information facilities a actuality, Musk wrote on Monday, although he didn’t present a timeline for when he anticipated it to occur.
Amazon has plans to create a constellation of web beaming satellites, dubbed Leo, to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink. The corporate has earmarked $10 billion for the challenge, in response to CNBC, however progress has been gradual, with Amazon just lately asking the U.S. FCC to increase the timeline to launch 1,600 Leo satellites.
Garman cited Musk’s 1-million-satellite plan throughout the Tuesday speak, and acknowledged that enhancements in gasoline and different points will make transportation into house inexpensive. However for now, he confused, the prices are a serious bottleneck.
