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xAI joins SpaceX

spacex.com

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Re: xAI joins SpaceX

#441

Post by chasd00 »

allenrb wrote: post #287

This makes me genuinely sad. SpaceX was the one thing of his that Elon has largely avoided screwing up. Imho, this is in large part due to Gwynne Shotwell. She seems to have the personality (not to mention, personal wealth) to kick Elon in the head when he tries to mess things up. What’s happening now is nothing more than a transparent effort to couple the AI hype-wagon to SpaceX in order to drive the valuation highe…

I think it’s just financial, I don’t see this as being detrimental or disruptive to SpaceX much at all.

Re: xAI joins SpaceX

#442

Post by andrewflnr »

CGMthrowaway wrote: post #233
rybosworld wrote: post #70

> The basic math is that launching a million tons per year of satellites generating 100 kW of compute power per ton would add 100 gigawatts of AI compute capacity annually, with no ongoing operational or maintenance needs. Ultimately, there is a path to launching 1 TW/year from Earth. > My estimate is that within 2 to 3 years, the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space. This is so obviously false. Fo…

There's clearly rhetorical hyperbole happening there. But assuming that thermal rejection is good in space, & launch costs continue falling, as earth-based data centers become power/grid-constrained, there is a viable path for space power gen. The craziest part of those statements is "100 kW per ton." IDK what math he is doing there or future assumptions, but today we can't even sniff at 10 kW per ton. iROSA [1] on t…

> But assuming that thermal rejection is good in space

Don't assume this. Why would you assume this?

Re: xAI joins SpaceX

#443

Post by kemotep »

codechicago277 wrote: post #318
kemotep wrote: post #56

If Musk and SpaceX are serious about putting 1 million datacenter satellites into space, then they are not serious about Mars. You cannot simultaneously build and launch 10’s of thousands of Starships to deliver 1 million tons of equipment and supplies bound to Mars while also committing to launching 10’s of thousands of Starships to orbit full of satellites. They would need to quadruple their launch rate, and half o…

Maybe this is beyond parody… https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1005577738332172289

Self-driving single stage to orbit rocket cars. It can drive you to work and then go on a Starlink launch to LEO and be back in time to pick you up.

Add your car to the SpaceX fleet and get paid to own a Tesla!

Re: xAI joins SpaceX

#444

Post by JeremyNT »

alangibson wrote: post #89

Either this is a straight up con, or Musk found a glitch in physics. It's extremely difficult to keep things cold in space.

It's such bullshit that we've decided this moron and others in his cohort can unilaterally reallocate such vast portions of humanity's labor at their whims.

This is an extremely stupid idea, but because of our shared delusion of capitalism and the idea that wealth accumulation at the top should be effectively limitless, this guy gets to screw around and divert actual human labor towards insane and useless projects like this rather than solving real world problems.

Re: xAI joins SpaceX

#446

Post by Trasmatta »

> This marks not just the next chapter, but the next book in SpaceX and xAI's mission: scaling to make a sentient sun to understand the Universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars!

One of the dumbest things I've ever read.

Re: xAI joins SpaceX

#447

Post by rhetocj23 »

beambot wrote: post #239
protastus wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon can't legally financially entangle Tesla to SpaceX due to Tesla being a public company, so his hands are tied. Tesla is clearly benefiting from protectionism and its sales would collapse if BYD were allowed to openly sell in the US. Most people just want affordable, maintainable and reliable cars.

> Elon can't legally financially entangle Tesla to SpaceX Bill Ackman has proposed taking SpaceX public by merging it with his Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, distributing 0.5 Special Purpose Acquisition Rights (SPARs) to Tesla shareholders for each share held. Each SPAR would be exercisable for two shares of SpaceX, aimed at enabling a 100% common stock capitalization without traditional underwriting fees or dilutiv…

[dead]

Re: xAI joins SpaceX

#448

Post by crabmusket »

__alexs wrote: post #319
moeadham wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fairness, solar cells can be about 5x more efficient in space (irradiance, uptime).

Solar cells have exactly the same power rating on earth as in space surely? What would change is their capacity factor and so energy generation.

Solar modules you can buy for your house usually have quoted power ratings at "max STC" or Standard Testing Conditions, which are based on insolation on Earth's surface.

https://wiki.pvmet.org/index.php?title=Standard_Test_Conditi...

So, a "400W panel" is rated to produce 400W at standard testing conditions.

I'm not sure how relevant that is to the numbers being thrown around in this thread, but thought I'd provide context.

Re: xAI joins SpaceX

#449

Post by dgxyz »

thethimble wrote: post #438
dgxyz wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> And not delivering products 2024 revenue of >$100b is quite impressive for not delivering any products

I should say delivering promised products.

Anyway they just canned the S and X lines so that's done as well...

Re: xAI joins SpaceX

#450

Post by unethical_ban »

outside1234 wrote: post #300
Buttons840 wrote: post #50

SpaceX is too big to fail. It's important for national security. I wonder if Elon wants to tangle all his businesses into SpaceX so they are all kept afloat by SpaceX's importance.

Why? Let it fail. Bring back NASA.

I am no fan of Musk the man. SpaceX is a strong company and Falcon is a solid vehicle. There is not a lot of competition, and NASA trying to in-source design and supply and construction of a new, reusable LEO rocket would be a complete nightmare.

I root for a competitive rocket market, but SpaceX is at the moment critical.

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