Elon Musk, CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX), has endorsed a bold prediction by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) co-founder Larry Page that nearly all future computing could eventually move to space. Musk shared his support on X, calling Page's forecast 'accurate' and referencing a clip from the November 4 episode of the Invest Like the Best podcast. During the episode, host Patrick O’Shaughnessy mentioned Page's response to a question about how much computing would eventually be located in orbit, with Page reportedly answering 'five nines,' or 99.999%.
The prediction comes as companies explore the feasibility of space-based AI hardware to bypass terrestrial infrastructure challenges. In September, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced Project Suncatcher, which will test the company’s AI chips, Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), in space for the first time. The prototype satellite, launching aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission in collaboration with Planet Labs, aims to evaluate whether the chips can operate in space. Musk responded to Pichai’s announcement with enthusiasm, using two rocket emojis.
One month later, Google completed initial commissioning tests, successfully powering up its host and TPU trays and running early machine learning workloads. The project achieved a milestone by generating the first AI response from a data center-class TPU in orbit, using its onboard Gemma 4 model to create a haiku about space. Musk has also highlighted the potential advantages of cooling AI data centers in space, suggesting that aluminum radiators could dissipate about 1,300 watts of heat per square meter by radiating heat toward the near-absolute-zero temperatures of deep space.
SemiAnalysis reported that SpaceX is targeting 13 gigawatts (GW) of AI computing capacity within 18 months, which could make it the world’s largest data center operator. The research firm noted that this would be the biggest data center infrastructure buildout by a single company over such a short period, comparing it to the nearly three decades it took Google to build its infrastructure from 1999 to 2026.