OpenAI (Unlisted:OPAI) CEO Sam Altman has criticized Elon Musk’s plans for space-based data centers, accusing the SpaceX Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX) and xAI leader of promoting an unproven technology to public market investors as the two technology executives continued their long-running dispute.
The comments came after Musk accused Altman of “taking scamming to a whole new level” in a post on X, escalating a series of public exchanges between the two billionaires that have followed their split over the direction of OpenAI.
“Homeboy you're the one selling public market investors on short-term space data centers,” Altman wrote on X, referring to SpaceX’s plans to develop orbital computing infrastructure.
Musk’s comments referenced ongoing legal disputes involving OpenAI and Altman, while Altman’s response targeted SpaceX’s plans for artificial intelligence computing satellites. SpaceX has outlined plans for a large-scale satellite network capable of supporting AI workloads, including up to one million compute satellites. The company’s AI1 satellite design is expected to support peak power levels of up to 150 kilowatts. However, the orbital data center concept remains in development and has yet to be demonstrated at scale.
Altman has previously expressed skepticism about the near-term potential of space-based computing. During a podcast appearance in February, he said orbital compute would not provide meaningful capacity for OpenAI within two, five, or even 10 years.
While SpaceX’s space data center plans remain unproven, the company has already expanded its terrestrial AI infrastructure business, including leasing data center capacity to companies such as Anthropic and Google.
Shares of SpaceX traded down about 5% on Monday at about $138, only modestly above last month’s IPO price of $135.