OpenAI Explores Spacecraft Project

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is pursuing a major plan to build or acquire a spacecraft company, aiming to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sources say Altman wants to send large data-storage machines into space, allowing them to operate in orbit close to Earth. To advance this idea, he reportedly held discussions with Stoke Space, a spacecraft manufacturer based in Kent, Washington. Altman was prepared to invest billions of dollars, which could have secured OpenAI a significant stake in the company.

However, insiders say the talks have slowed down and progress remains uncertain.

A Partnership That Turned Into Rivalry

Altman and Musk began as collaborators. In 2015, they co-founded OpenAI with the goal of developing safe artificial intelligence. Their relationship changed after disagreements over the company’s direction and funding. Musk left OpenAI in 2018.

After OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, the company and Altman gained global recognition. Musk, meanwhile, accused OpenAI and Microsoft of trying to dominate the AI market. He later launched his own AI company, xAI, and introduced Grok, a chatbot positioned as a competitor to ChatGPT.

Why Altman Wants Space Based Technology

While Musk’s SpaceX is far ahead in space technology, Altman has long expressed interest in using space to support future technological needs. Experts predict that global data-storage demand will rise by 19 to 22 percent by 2030.

Altman recently said that humanity will soon require massive amounts of energy:

“In the future, people will need far more power than can reasonably be produced on Earth. The solution may be to look beyond the planet.”

This vision has fueled his interest in building orbit-based data centers powered by off-Earth energy sources.