{"id":3109189,"date":"2026-04-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?post_type=tc_podcast&#038;p=3109189"},"modified":"2026-04-06T10:32:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T17:32:45","slug":"space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"tc_podcast","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure\/","title":{"rendered":"Space: the final frontier of AI infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--56);margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--56);\" class=\"wp-block-tc23-podcast-player\">\n\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"tcembed-iframe tcembed--megaphone wp-block-tc23-podcast-player__embed\" height=\"200px\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=TCML2504789390\"><\/iframe>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Tech companies are racing to build data centers in space, pitching orbital compute as the next frontier for AI infrastructure, even as the technical and economic realities&nbsp;remain&nbsp;far from clear. Add&nbsp;in&nbsp;OpenAI\u2019s massive&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/03\/31\/openai-not-yet-public-raises-3b-from-retail-investors-in-monster-122b-fund-raise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$122 billion&nbsp;round<\/a>&nbsp;and Bluesky\u2019s latest AI backlash, and the message is clear:&nbsp;The future of AI is being shaped as much by ambition and hype as it is by real-world constraints.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On this episode of&nbsp;TechCrunch\u2019s Equity podcast,&nbsp;Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O\u2019Kane unpack&nbsp;these&nbsp;massive capital bets,&nbsp;user backlash, and off-world compute plans&nbsp;along with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/03\/31\/whoop-valuation-10b-series-g-fundraise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Whoop\u2019s major valuation<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FBHhCp7itSw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">the literal downfall of robot Olaf<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listen to the full episode to hear about:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/03\/31\/openai-not-yet-public-raises-3b-from-retail-investors-in-monster-122b-fund-raise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">OpenAI\u2019s&nbsp;$122 billion&nbsp;fundraise<\/a>&nbsp;and what its near-trillion-dollar valuation says about expectations for AI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/03\/31\/whoop-valuation-10b-series-g-fundraise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Whoop\u2019s $575 million raise<\/a>&nbsp;and the shift toward \u201cwearables 2.0\u201d (and what happens to all that data).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/03\/30\/blueskys-new-ai-tool-attie-is-already-the-most-blocked-account-other-than-j-d-vance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bluesky\u2019s AI-powered feed builder<\/a>&nbsp;and why it triggered a major user backlash.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/03\/30\/starcloud-raises-170-million-series-ato-build-data-centers-in-space\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rise of data centers in space<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/02\/11\/why-the-economics-of-orbital-ai-are-so-brutal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">whether\u00a0they are financially or physically\u00a0feasible<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Subscribe to Equity on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@TechCrunch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/id1215439780\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/overcast.fm\/itunes1215439780\/equity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Overcast<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?si=rZDFHv2sQUul_g94iCRgpQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0and all the casts. You\u00a0also can\u00a0follow Equity on<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EquityPod\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">\u00a0X<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@equitypod\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Threads<\/a>, at @EquityPod.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574517,"featured_media":3109190,"template":"","meta":{"tc-featured-article":false,"tc-header-option":"","tc-breaking-news":false,"tc-article-brief":false,"carmot_uuid":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"podcast_url":"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=TCML2504789390","podcast_duration":"","tc_featured_image_disabled":false,"tc_exclude_from_rss_feed":true,"tc_exclude_from_content_rivers":true},"categories":[20429,577030455,577047203],"tags":[18477,577252193,577083484,449559570,421223872,371748],"tc_podcast_type":[],"tc_storyline_tax":[],"coauthors":[576927396,122839103,576606195,577244940],"class_list":["post-3109189","tc_podcast","type-tc_podcast","status-publish","hentry","category-startups","category-venture","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ipo","tag-equity","tag-bluesky","tag-equity-podcast","tag-openai","tag-spacex"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.1 (Yoast SEO v25.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Space: the final frontier of AI infrastructure | TechCrunch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Space: the final frontier of AI infrastructure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tech companies are racing to build data centers in space, pitching orbital compute as the next frontier for AI infrastructure, even as the technical and economic realities&nbsp;remain&nbsp;far from clear. Add&nbsp;in&nbsp;OpenAI\u2019s massive&nbsp;$122 billion&nbsp;round&nbsp;and Bluesky\u2019s latest AI backlash, and the message is clear:&nbsp;The future of AI is being shaped as much by ambition and hype as it [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TechCrunch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techcrunch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T17:32:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/tc-backlight-e1689786273147.png?w=1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"486\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TechCrunch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"Maggie Nye, Anthony Ha, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O&#039;Kane\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure\/\",\"name\":\"Space: the final frontier of AI infrastructure | TechCrunch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-03T16:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T17:32:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast Episodes\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Space: the final frontier of AI infrastructure\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/\",\"name\":\"TechCrunch\",\"description\":\"Startup and Technology News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"TC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"TechCrunch\",\"alternateName\":\"TC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/tc-logo-2018-square-reverse2x.png?resize=1200,1200\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/tc-logo-2018-square-reverse2x.png?resize=1200,1200\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"TechCrunch\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techcrunch\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/TechCrunch\",\"https:\/\/mstdn.social\/@TechCrunch\",\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/techcrunch.com\",\"https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@techcrunch\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Space: the final frontier of AI infrastructure | TechCrunch","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/podcast\/space-the-final-frontier-of-ai-infrastructure\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Space: the final frontier of AI infrastructure","og_description":"Tech companies are racing to build data centers in space, pitching orbital compute as the next frontier for AI infrastructure, even as the technical and economic realities&nbsp;remain&nbsp;far from clear. 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