Arkitekt78 Every time one of these AI sycophants start talking about the technology as if it isnt the thing that is supposed to be making them money, they sound RIDICULOUS. And Altman is the absolute worst at this. I dont know how anybody takes anything this guy says seriously. Reply
Arkitekt78 Notton said: I fully agree with Sam on this one. Cause Musk bad, right? Reply
Notton Arkitekt78 said: Cause Musk bad, right? No, it's just common sense if you'd use your brain. GPUs in these data centers break frequently and need to be replaced constantly. This is a well known fact. How are you going to replace a broken GPU orbiting earth? Sending a repair crew into space isn't exactly a cheap endeavor. Reply
Sam Hobbs This is where both success and failure are potentially huge. As in, it never rains in California but it pours. Anyone with the vision to make it successful can be very successful. Any fool that thinks it can work and is wrong will loose big time. One problem only slightly mentioned in the article is power. In addition to the GPUs and related hardware there must be a way to get the power (electricity). Whoever is able to use raw materials already in space to manufacture solar panels or some other power source will potentially be excessively more successful. Reply
endocine Sam Altman apparently draws the line of ridiculous at Space Based Data Centers? Reply
ngrok2b Sam Altman fears that Elon Musk will run josephson junctions and quantum computers in the cold vacuum of space efficiently and literally to dominate AI and all computing. I would be worried too if I were Sam Altman. Reply
gschoen Arkitekt78 said: Cause Musk bad, right? It's not good or bad, he has a long term habit of saying outrageous, ridiculous predictions that never come to pass. In this particular case, besides the still massive costs of launch and inability to service, AI GPUs make a ton of heat. Physics of heat transfer – radiation, conduction, convection. In the vacuum of space only radiation is available. The ISS has a complicated liquid ammonia cooling system to transfer heat from the solar panels, equipment, and crew environment to large radiators. A high power orbital data center would need elaborate systems to keep the GPUs cool. Reply
Eximo Yep, the launch mass of cooling plus the solar panels really eats into the budget of launch mass for compute. I honestly think it is to fool people into investing. Space is cold, computers are hot, perfect! Moon based might be a better idea for quantum if it also wasn't cost prohibitive and long term reliability a complete unknown. Could put a quantum computer on the 'dark' side and have minimal radio interference from Earth. And put the compute in a deep crater so that it never gets sunlight/radiation from the biggest nearby sources. Reply
alan.campbell99 Keep with increasingly clogging up orbit with satellites that mess up radio and optical telescope work and it might very well lead to installations on the dark side of the moon, assuming any states would be willing to fund such an enterprise. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-fires-back-at-elon-musks-proposal-for-space-based-data-centers-says-orbiting-data-centers-ridiculous-for-now-cites-high-failure-rates-and-cost-as-primary-limiters#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.