Jeff Bezos Predicts Gigawatt-Scale Space Data Centres Within 20 Years
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has forecast that massive gigawatt-scale data centres will operate in space within the next two decades, powered by uninterrupted solar energy that could eventually make them more efficient than Earth-based facilities.
Space: The Next Frontier for Data Infrastructure
Speaking at the Italian Tech Week in Turin, Bezos said the growing power and cooling demands of terrestrial data centres make space a natural next step for global computing infrastructure. “These giant training clusters, those will be better built in space, because we have solar power there, 24/7. There are no clouds and no rain, no weather,” he explained during a discussion with John Elkann, chairman of Ferrari and Stellantis.
Bezos believes that orbital data centres, supported by continuous solar energy, will “beat the cost of terrestrial data centres in space in the next couple of decades.” He framed this transition as part of a wider movement to leverage space technology to improve life on Earth, similar to how weather and communication satellites have already transformed global connectivity.
Challenges and Opportunities for Space-Based Computing
While the concept of hosting data centres in orbit is gaining attention among major technology firms, significant hurdles remain. Maintenance, upgrades, and launch costs present serious challenges, alongside the risk of rocket failures. Despite these obstacles, Bezos said the long-term advantages—particularly the availability of clean, constant energy—make space-based computing a compelling frontier.
He also suggested that data centres are only the beginning. “The next step is data centres, then other kinds of manufacturing,” he noted, hinting at a broader industrial shift toward space infrastructure.
AI Boom Echoes the Dot-Com Era
Turning to artificial intelligence, Bezos compared the current AI surge to the internet boom of the early 2000s. He acknowledged the potential for speculative bubbles but urged optimism about AI’s long-term impact. “We should be extremely optimistic that the societal and beneficial consequences of AI, like we had with the internet 25 years ago, are for real and there to stay,” he said.
Bezos added that while market fluctuations are inevitable, the underlying technology will deliver lasting benefits across industries. “The benefits of AI will be broadly diffused and it will go everywhere,” he said.
with inputs from Reuters
