From Data Centres to Orbit: Can Space Solar Power the AI Age?
A rtificial intelligence is usually described as a contest over algorithms, semiconductor chips, talent, and investment. Yet beneath the excitement surrounding chatbots, autonomous systems, and ever-larger models lies a quieter struggle that may prove just as decisive. It is the struggle for electricity. Every AI model trained, every search engine enhanced, every image generated, and every automated workflow deployed depends on physical infrastructure consuming enormous amounts of power. Behind the apparent magic of digital intelligence are data centres filled with processors, cooling systems, storage arrays, networking hardware, and backup systems operating continuously. For much of the internet era, electricity was treated as a background utility. In the AI era, it is rapidly becoming a strategic resource. That change is forcing some of the world’s largest technology companies to rethink where future power will come from. It is also reviving one of the most ambitious energy concept...