Why not build underground structures?

Such structures would have better latency due to locality, they wouldn't be subject to transmission interference from weather, they'd be far more accessible for replacements/upgrades, and being underground naturally aids in cooling and noise suppression.

While it would be resource intensive to dig out the underground structure, I'd be surprised if it even came close to the resource expenditure required to launch all your computer hardware into stable orbit, not even accounting for the fact that the former is a one-time, up-front cost, while the latter would have to be re-done every time you replace hardware.

Assuming they can solve the cooling problem, there are still major problems with space data center at the scale proponents talk about.

First, getting them up there.

Second, disposal of them when they reach end of life, which is about 5 years.

The difficulty with getting them up there is we currently don't have orbital rockets that don't cause tremendous damage to the upper stratosphere. It has been tolerable so far because we've only done about 7500 orbital launches over the history of spaceflight.

The more extreme plans, like Musk's for a million data centers in space, would require around 10000 launches to get them deployed and then as they age 2000 launches a year to replace old ones.

There is active research and development on rocket fuels that won't cause massive damage, so this problem may be surmountable.

Reentry at end of life is also a concern. As they burn up they deposit things in the upper stratosphere that we really don't want there. As with launches that's not been a problem yet because over the entire history of spaceflight there have only been about 10k satellites and rocket bodies that have reentered, plus about 25k small things like debris.

That would be around 200k per year under the million data center in space plan. I don't know if it is possible to build them so they don't cause problems on reentry.

Probably a better approach for now is to build them in places where large power generation projects are being built. Those projects are already adding new power transmission capacity to get the power to cities, and it should be fairly efficient to at the same time add massive fiber internet capacity along the same right of way used for the transmission lines.

Space is pretty big. Where would you propose putting them and what will you do when a switch port fails?

This is an idea that is getting a lot of airtime but not sure if anyone practical minded thinks it is viable in the next 15 years.

As soon as we figure out how to build a practical and cost effective way to radiate megawatts of heat in a vacuum I'm sure we will!

Heat radiation by convection doesn't work great in a vacuum.

Why don't we just put them where the people who want them live?

While that "solution" is, er, not strictly against the laws of physics, it still falls into the subcategory of "utterly insane", once one looks at the real tonnages and watts and dollars and engineering problems.

It was never a serious proposal, it's just some zillionaire's daydream about having their own Neuromancer-style space-station, a place where their word is law and their dynasty assured by a pet superintelligence.

The only "data-center in space" we're likely to see will be tiny low-power satellites, offering themselves as extraterritorial hosting (i.e. actual data, versus processing) for stuff like an oligarch's ill-gotten crypto-currency.

this is the way!

one of the biggest threats to AI accelerationism longterm is the public rioting or foreign governments launching attacks against data centers

the plebians won't be able to burn the data centers if you put them in space though.

"Our researchers were so busy working out whether they could, noone stopped to wonder whether they should"

And yet no proof-of-concept has been attempted. Just another Elon saying at this point.

Another solution is to pray to the sun god for the wisdom of the universe.

If space doesn't work or is deemed too expensive put them right next to the house where the CEO of the company and his family live. Same with nuclear plants, rocket launch sites and chemical plants.

The current Republican President and his administration are presenting opposition of data centers as a hoax perpetrated by political enemies and/or China to cripple America’s ability to compete in AI. It’s important to know that his own voters disagree with that.

"People aren't "Republicans" or "Democrats" "

You would wish but it's way too prevalent to call oneself "Republican" or "Democrat" and promise lifetime loyalty. Take almost anything they are mad about when the "other" side does it and ask how they'd feel if "their" side did it.

Careful about not believing people when they tell you what they are.

Readers would appreciate downvoters clarifying their displeasure or disagreement with the above.