Bezos Predicts Orbital Gigawatt Data Centers

At Italian Tech Week in Turin, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, predicted that gigawatt‑scale data centers could be built in orbit within the next 10–20 years, powered by uninterrupted solar energy. He said 24/7 solar power and the cold thermal environment in space could allow orbital “training clusters” to outperform and undercut the costs of terrestrial data centers as AI and cloud demand soars. Bezos compared the AI surge to the early internet and urged optimism about broad societal benefits while warning that speculative bubbles can occur. He acknowledged substantial technical and commercial hurdles remain, including difficult maintenance and upgrades, high rocket‑launch costs, and the risk of launch failures. Bezos framed the shift as part of a broader trend of using space infrastructure — like communications and weather satellites — to improve life on Earth, and said the idea is gaining traction as on‑Earth data centers drive rising electricity and water needs.