OpenAI CEO Sam Altman accused Elon Musk of misleading investors regarding the short-term viability of space-based data centers. Musk promoted the concept to investors in his recently public company, SpaceXAI. This entity was formed from the merger of SpaceX and xAI.
Altman previously dismissed orbital data centers as ridiculous in February 2026. He cited prohibitive launch costs and hardware repair difficulties as primary obstacles. Altman maintains the technology will not be viable at scale within the current decade.