Sam Altman Wants His Own Rocket Company

The horrors of AI’s environmental impact may extend beyond Earth as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman looks into launching data centers to space.

Altman was reportedly considering investing billions into Stoke Space, a Seattle-based startup that’s developing a reusable rocket, to gain a controlling stake in the company, according to The Wall Street Journal. The talks between Altman and Stoke took place over the summer and picked up in the fall. Although no deal has been made yet, Altman intended on either buying or partnering with a rocket company so that he would be able to deploy AI data centers to space.

AI goes to space

More than 5,000 AI data centers currently exist in the United States, a number that’s expected to increase exponentially over time. These massive facilities are already putting a strain on the country’s electricity grid, but it’s only going to get worse from here.

The electricity demand of AI data centers are projected to see a 50% increase by 2027, and as much as 165% by 2030, according to a report by Goldman Sachs. Companies such as OpenAI are pouring billions into building new high-capacity facilities to meet the growing demand of artificial intelligence, but even the executives behind big tech realize that there is a limit to how many data centers they can build on Earth.

“I do guess a lot of the world gets covered in data centers over time,†Altman said during a recent podcast interview, Wired reported. He did, however, offer an alternative solution. “Maybe we put [data centers] in space,†he said. “I wish I had, like, more concrete answers for you, but like, we’re stumbling through this.â€

By deploying data centers to space, Altman is envisioning the facilities feeding off of the Sun’s energy through solar panels. Altman had also previously suggested building a Dyson sphere to harness energy from the Sun and feed the growing demand of AI data centers. It’s clear that he is overly fixated on finding a solution to the growing data centers problem within the vastness of space.

It’s not clear whether OpenAI will reach a deal with Stoke Space, which is hoping to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket with its own fully-reusable, medium-lift vehicle called Nova. Altman’s investment in Stoke would also likely further fuel his feud with SpaceX’s founder Elon Musk, which began over their disagreement on the future of OpenAI. By entering the business of space, Altman could just hit two birds with one stone.