Elon Musk is laying out a vision for scaling artificial intelligence far beyond the limits of Earth, saying that orbital compute networks and lunar manufacturing could accelerate humanity toward a higher rung on the Kardashev scale.
In a fresh post on X, Musk says space-based infrastructure could solve the growing energy constraints on Earth.
He says solar-powered AI satellites could capture energy directly from the sun, run workloads and send the data back to Earth – a system that could be deployed by SpaceX and be up and running in just a few years.
“Satellites with localized AI compute, where just the results are beamed back from low-latency, sun synchronous orbit, will be the lowest-cost way to generate AI bitstreams in < three years.”
The billionaire says orbital compute nodes will also become the fastest way to scale capacity as terrestrial energy constraints tighten.
“And by far the fastest way to scale within four years, because easy sources of electrical power are already hard to find on Earth. One megaton per year of satellites with 100 kW per satellite yields 100 GW of AI added per year with no operating or maintenance cost, connecting via high bandwidth lasers to the Starlink constellation.”
As the world advances on the back of solar-powered AI satellites, Musk says the next logical step is to build a base on the Moon.
“The level beyond that is constructing satellite factories on the Moon and using a mass driver (electromagnetic railgun) to accelerate AI satellites to lunar escape velocity without the need for rockets.”
According to the tech mogul, a lunar base that launches AI satellites will propel humanity to a stellar civilization.
“That scales to >100 TW per year of AI and enables non-trivial progress towards becoming a Kardashev II civilization.”
Under the Kardashev framework, a Type I civilization harnesses all the energy available on its home planet, a Type II civilization captures and uses the full energy output of its star system and a Type III civilization taps energy on the scale of an entire galaxy.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at CapitalAI Daily are not investment advice. Investors should do their own due diligence before making any decisions involving securities, cryptocurrencies, or digital assets. Your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. CapitalAI Daily does not recommend the buying or selling of any assets, nor is CapitalAI Daily an investment advisor. See our Editorial Standards and Terms of Use.