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> As part of this agreement, we have also expressed interest in partnering with SpaceX to develop multiple gigawatts of orbital AI compute capacity. Anthropic
by gpugreg 5mo ago
> As part of this agreement, we have also expressed interest in partnering with SpaceX to develop multiple gigawatts of orbital AI compute capacity.
Anthropic is either taking this space business more serious than the general public, or posting this sentence was part of the deal to get the compute.
- JMKH42 5mo agoI don't think space compute is going to work out, but I would certainly say "yes happy to buy space compute from you in the future if you offer it at a good price" If it happens it happens, if not, it doesn't.
- CamperBob2 5mo agoIt makes no sense. We're being presented with a forced choice -- put them in space, or put them in the middle of downtown Seattle. This is stupid. I don't understand what's happening... specifically, what mental virus is spreading that lowers everybody's IQ by 10-20 points, evidently including my own. Put the data centers in the ocean, powered by solar and networked with Starlink or LEO. Put them in the desert. Put them 20 miles south of Nowhere, Idaho. But space?!
- Karrot_Kream 5mo agoBecause the US has levied high tariffs on solar cells, can't build their own solar cells economically enough, and has such a torrid permitting system that it can't build transmission lines. Natural gas is the only form of generation that's easy to permit outside cities (due to pipeline agreements and this admin fast-tracking natural gas generation approval) but few cities will allow one. DCs need to be built within low latency interconnect of urban areas or else they become uncompetitive. Elon claims (which I take with a huge grain of salt because he's made endless broken promises in investor calls and interviews) that he disagrees with the administration's stance on solar and would use it to power his DCs if he could, but contends that permitting is a huge problem. The US needs to figure out how to build again. > This is stupid. I don't understand what's happening... specifically, what mental virus "Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes"
- CamperBob2 5mo agoWhat does that have to do with my point? Space-based data centers need solar cells too. They are just like terrestrial data centers, only more expensive. For every dollar you save on the PV array, you'll spend two more on radiators. And you don't need permits in international waters, any more than you need them in orbit. Lease space on container ships.
- Karrot_Kream 5mo agoThe argument is that it's too hard to gain the necessary approvals on Earth such that space is faster and easier. Not sure I buy it fully (I do see it somewhat), but that's the argument.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 5mo agoThe permitting slowdown is if it want to connect to the grid. If you want to run solar behind the meter, you can go nuts.
- Karrot_Kream 5mo agoSure but acquiring enough land to build solar profitably near a DC that can hook up to the big US interconnects is very expensive and will often be blocked by residents. If you want to build solar where there are few people and cheap input costs, then you need to transmit the power to the DC.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 5mo agoI keep hearing about brand new data centers they want to create. Seems reasonable to go to sunny, enormous, business friendly Texas and surround the data center site with acres of solar panels, batteries, emergency gas, and whatever sized grid connection you can get approved immediately. If the DC is for training or text inference, latency seems irrelevant, so go where you can quickly plop down power.
- zeafoamrun 5mo agoThe middle of downtown Seattle would be greatly improved if it were replaced by a giant data center.
- joshstrange 5mo agoEhh, I think they are just "kissing the ring". This was part of the agreement for the terrestrial datacenter access, pretend like the space orbital compute is more than the boondoggle that it clearly is. I want to be clear, I do think that one day something like that will exist, I just don't think it's anywhere close to being a reality, much like FSD. Also it costs them, almost [0], nothing to say it and then later come up with some reason why they are no longer interested. [0] Maybe a little bit of respect
- Rover222 5mo agoIt’s weird to not take this seriously. It’s obvious it’s serious and they’re pursuing it.
- scottyah 5mo agoThank you for a reasonable comment. I know internet people love to comment on how "dumb" things are, but we're seeing a growing group of funded, motivated, and intelligent people working towards a common goal. It's at least something to be curious about, I wish the comments were more oriented towards in-depth discussions on the actual current blockers.
- s08148692 5mo agoThe whole armchair engineer debate online about this is hilarious I'm just a software engineer, all I need to know is SpaceX is aggressively pursuing this - that's enough for me to believe it's viable SpaceX operates literally orders of magnitudes more satellites than anyone else. If anybody understands the physics and engineering of space compute, it's SpaceX. Lay people debating this online is just showing their ignorance as far as I'm concerned, and it mostly comes from an emotional place of wanting Musk enterprises to fail
- Rover222 5mo agoexactly
- Sevii 5mo agoAnthropic needs any compute they can get. So if Elon wants to build orbital data centers Anthropic would be happy to run models on it. There isn't really any doubt Elon can build orbital data centers the question is if they are economical compared to earth based.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- cyclopeanutopia 5mo agoWhat are you talking about There is no doubt that it's not a serious idea.
- charlieflowers 5mo agoHelp me understand why not? I know solar power generation in space, and "beaming" the power back, was a naive idea. But this would actually use the power up there, mostly for training, but also for inference. That claim seems reasonable. I have zero knowledge of the economics of launching and maintaining satellites though.
- PufPufPuf 5mo agoAs I understand it, the problem is cooling. There isn't any medium to take away the heat, so the only option is to slowly radiate it away.
- Sammi 5mo agoAnyone who has googled just once to ask if datacenters in space make any sense, has found out they don't because they can't get rid of heat. That leaves only two kinds of people left who are still talking excitedly about datacenters in space: The uninformed and the grifters.
- redox99 5mo ago
- re-thc 5mo ago> or posting this sentence was part of the deal to get the compute All it says is expressed interest. That's like asking a casual how are you...
- anthonypasq 5mo agomost of the big tech ceos have mentioned this.
- shimman 5mo agoMost big tech CEOs are people that only "succeeded" due to have an unregulated monopoly or picking the right lotto ticket and not due to any innate above average intelligence. Go look at the 100s of billions in wasted capital and tell me who benefitted from such waste while workers + children suffer from lack of medical care. You honestly expect this trajectory to continue unabated?
- pdimitar 5mo ago> You honestly expect this trajectory to continue unabated? Knowing humanity's history, yes. Not sure we're ever going to see a second French Revolution. People are pacified and are not rioting. And they really should. Most of us are kind of privileged. I know people out there who are barely holding on and the recent fuel + food price increases might push them over the edge to actual poverty.
- bethekidyouwant 5mo agoBut not French revolution poverty to be fair.
- airspresso 5mo ago> posting this sentence was part of the deal to get the compute This 100%
- scottyah 5mo agoSource? I'd like to read more on Anthropic's views of space compute
- DANmode 5mo ago> As part of this agreement, we have also expressed interest in
- stingraycharles 5mo agoWhich is now their official position I guess as this whole “AI space datacenter” stuff is a significant part of the whole SpaceX IPO. I assume privately they may not share that opinion, but it’s not in Anthropic’s interest to talk about this (very little to gain, and may ruffle a lot of feathers if they say the wrong thing).
- ethbr1 5mo agoAI space datacenters only make sense from one perspective -- sovereignty. If you're someone with a lot of money, who dislikes governments meddling in your business, and often pisses off governments... ... oh, I see why this is an Elon talking point now.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- londons_explore 5mo agoExpressing an interest is presumably free... So anthropic might as well.
- theptip 5mo agoBut also - anyone would be interested in purchasing orbital compute at the price Elon is quoting.
- sourcegrift 5mo agoAnybody who spends 5 minutes on reddit outside of pornographic or cuckoldry subs knows that this is not a serious idea
- aayushdutt 5mo ago[flagged]
- 0dayz 5mo agoHas anthropic said Elon is evil or why else is this relevant? Ironically it is Elon who has said that anthropic is evil: https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-teams-up-with-anthropic-a-company-hes-called-evil-2000755254 https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-teams-up-with-anthropic-a-comp... And if you need to be reminded: https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deaths/ https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hund...
- prohobo 5mo agoThey're in every discussion even remotely related to anything Elon Musk. Everything Elon does is somehow stupid or evil. Actually, that reminds me of Thunderf00t YouTube streams where he was (or still is?) betting Starship would fail miserably every test flight, and he'd talk about how evil and stupid Elon is for 3 hours with chatters, watch the flight then say something like "it's still bullshit." I think it's a mixture of cope and a little bit psyop from adversaries like Russia who are being crippled in Ukraine because of Starlink.