Elon Musk is pushing to build data centers in space. But they won’t solve AI’s power problems anytime soon

Even as technology companies are projected to spend more than $5 trillion globally on earth-based data centers by the end of the decade, Elon Musk is arguing the future of AI computing power lies in space—powered by solar energy—and that the economics and engineering to make it work could align within a few years.

Over the past three weeks, SpaceX has filed plans with the Federal Communications Commission for what amounts to a million-satellite data-center network. Musk has also said he plans to merge his AI startup...