Altman challenges Musk…"I will build a data center in space"

Rocket company acquisition push

Competing with SpaceX for the acquisition

Aiming to establish data centers in space

'Archrivals' Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, and Elon Musk, CEO, are said to be engaged in a tussle over acquiring a rocket company, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 3rd (local time).

WSJ, citing multiple people familiar with the matter, reported that Altman contacted at least one rocket manufacturer last summer, including 'Stoke Space'. It said proposals included OpenAI investing in Stoke Space to secure a controlling stake, and that the investment size could amount to billions of dollars.

Stoke Space was founded by employees who came from Blue Origin, the space exploration company established by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Like Musk's SpaceX, it is developing fully reusable rockets.

Altman's goal is to establish artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in space. Earlier, Bezos also said last month that he would establish AI data centers in space. Altman recently said on a podcast, "Over time, I think many places around the world will be covered with data centers," showing interest in building space data centers.

In space, solar rays can be used more efficiently so data centers can operate with less power. It can. Because there are no extreme weather events and no night. Because it is a vacuum, cooling systems are also not necessary.

WSJ said that if a partnership between OpenAI and Stoke Space is realized, the estranged Altman and Musk would become more direct competitors.

Musk participated in the founding of OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but later parted ways. Since then, Musk founded the AI company xAI in 2023 and leads the space company SpaceX, the neurotechnology startup Neuralink, and the electric vehicle company Tesla.

Altman recently launched the brain-computer interface startup 'Merge Labs', and WSJ reported that OpenAI is building a social network that could compete with Musk's social platform X.

The two have also had sharp disputes over OpenAI's conversion to a for-profit corporation. Musk filed a lawsuit last year seeking to block OpenAI's conversion to a for-profit corporation, arguing that Altman breached a promise to operate OpenAI as a nonprofit and pursued profit, violating agreements with investors and others.

Reporter Mansu Choi bebop@hankyung.com