Some people have expressed skepticism about Elon Musk's idea for putting AI data centers in outer space.
But what does it say when even Masa thinks it's too far out there?
SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son, after all, isn't exactly a shrinking violet when it comes to wild ideas. He has his 300-year business plan and was talking about the singularity a decade ago before the idea of AGI (artificial general intelligence, or basically AI superintelligence) became a Silicon Valley buzzword. He even thought Adam Neumann, the founder of WeWork, was a visionary leader.
Yet this past week, Son questioned Musk's plans for orbital data centers. "What's the point?" Son asked investors in Japan.
Son and Musk have been at the center of the biggest tech investments of a generation and each is intent on steering what might become the biggest technological disruption since the advent of electricity. Whose vision for the future -- on this planet or beyond -- can be pulled off fastest might determine the outcome of the AI race.
Let's not call Son pragmatic just yet. Rather, what was on display this past week was the difference in tactics for achieving what are really similar visions for the sci-fi future. Musk is thinking first principles while Son is applying his go-big-or-go-home investment approach.
First, some back story. A big part of the thesis behind SpaceX's $2 trillion market value is Musk's plan to put data centers in orbit. He has argued the vast amounts of energy from solar power will make the economics far better than those on Earth.
"It's a no-brainer," Musk said earlier this year. The company's IPO paperwork said it expects to deploy the technology as soon as 2028.
That can sound especially appealing as hyperscalers across the U.S. face increasing hostility over the construction of new data centers required to fuel the creation and deployment of powerful AI models. And so the appeal of space.
Musk isn't alone in seeing the potential. Billionaire Jeff Bezos has been talking about the idea, too, but has cautioned he doesn't think it's as near term. "People would talk about two or three years -- that's probably a little ambitious," he told CNBC in May.
Son is skeptical about the savings in space, noting that just 7% of operating a data center on earth is the cost of electricity. The rest, he said, are the chips and other things.
Yet Musk has heard such criticisms many times throughout his career. SpaceX and Tesla, where he is also CEO, are built around first principles thinking, the idea that the laws of physics dictate whether something is possible.
It's a philosophy that's helped Musk do what many thought was impractical, such as developing reusable rockets. Or making electric cars cool and profitable.
His approach isn't always the quickest way to solve a problem.
Alphabet's Waymo has a fleet of driverless vehicles operating in several U.S. cities. Tesla, meanwhile, is still in the early stages of trying to prove it, too, can deploy a robust robotaxi service.
A big difference between the two companies has been Waymo's embrace of laser sensors that Musk says are unneeded. Instead, his cars see the world much in the way humans do with camera vision. The physics might be on his side, but Waymo is currently in the lead.
And that's the rub for Son. What really seems to worry him is the speed of change occurring around AI. It's hard to pick a winner when every few weeks a model changes or an AI star jumps ship and the deck of rivals gets reshuffled.
While Musk believes orbital AI centers are a near-term breakthrough, Son sees lots of hurdles that could delay things. Son suggested that it could take years, perhaps a decade or more, to figure out how to address the challenges of orbital data centers. (Maintenance in space?)
For him and his winner-takes-all philosophy, 10 years is too long to wait to win in AI. "The winner will be decided in the next some years, so rather than focusing on space where we have no idea what will happen in terms of AI-related business, we would like to focus on ... the nearsighted perspective and we would like to become first comer in any business related to AI," Son said.
Moving fast to be first is the approach that Son has built his reputation on, most notably with his early investment in Alibaba. He's known for the mantra: "We only live once, so I want to think big. I have no intention of making small bets."
Practically, that means he's all about locking in first-mover advantages with transformative companies. He funnels huge amounts of money into those picks so they can win markets and drown out rivals.
That was the thesis behind the 2017 creation of the $100 billion Vision Fund, the giant tech-investing vehicle. It doesn't always work. WeWork, the office space startup, was a big beneficiary of Son's philosophy and its descent into bankruptcy became a blemish on his record.
Yet this past week, Son was clear that he's doubling down on AI.
At SoftBank's annual meeting Wednesday, he outlined four pillars around his strategy: AI models, semiconductors, robotics and infrastructure. Those pieces can be seen in SoftBank's huge investment in OpenAI and its chips subsidiary, Arm, as well as its huge investments in data centers globally.
In an apparent acknowledgment that his plans are grandiose, Son chided modern business leaders for failing to talk about big visions. "SoftBank Group is the factory of golden eggs," he told shareholders. "Our role is to help the businesses that we have to become a golden egg."
While the puzzle pieces are different, together they create a similar picture to what Musk is doing with his businesses: SpaceXAI competes against OpenAI, the SpaceX-Tesla collaboration aims to create a chip factory, Tesla is pivoting to robotics and then there are those orbital data centers.
The implicit part of these gambles is that, in a way similar to the rise of search and smartphones, the winner takes all.
For Musk, Son and the handful of other giants in the AI race, timing will indeed be everything.
Write to Tim Higgins at tim.higgins@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 27, 2026 05:30 ET (09:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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