Masayoshi Son, the founder and CEO of SoftBank, has questioned Musk's space ambitions, saying that building data centers in orbit won't cut costs and will take far too long.
"In the battle for AI, the next few years will be far more important than what might happen a decade or so from now," Son said at a recent shareholder meeting, according to TechCrunch. The implication is that Musk is focused on a distant future while the real fight for AI dominance is happening now on Earth.
The irony is notable: Son has built his career on audacious bets. But he is drawing the line at space infrastructure that won't generate returns for years. His skepticism suggests that Musk may be pursuing a distant goal while the actual competition for compute power is unfolding in terrestrial data centers today.
TechCrunch's Equity podcast team noted that Musk's "constellation of satellites" plan, when examined closely, becomes a reliable revenue stream for SpaceX—satellites require replacement every few years. Sean O'Kane observed that Musk isn't just building an orbital data center; he is "guaranteeing that much more business" for his own rocket company.
Everyone is now positioning itself as a "compute provider." Groq raised $650 million. SpaceX is renting out AI compute. Companies battered by the chip shortage are pivoting to become neo-cloud providers. The recurring question: is this a durable business model, or desperation repackaged as innovation?
When a billionaire known for betting on the impossible expresses doubt, it may be worth taking seriously.
