dominate the AI space race<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Americans are obviously talking about it and Elon Musk is talking about [his own orbital data centre company] Starmind. But, I think the Chinese are making early moves here,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the question is, how quickly can they turn those early moves into momentum?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Davis said China could be 10 years away from developing its own fleet of reusable rockets, making the construction of orbital AI data centres substantially cheaper and easier.<\/p>\n
\u2018Speed and co-ordination\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Seyedali Mirjalili, professor of AI at Torrens University, said China had the \u201cfirst-mover advantage\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpace is potentially a very attractive place for AI computing because you have access to enormous amounts of solar energy and you are not competing for land, water and electricity in the same way as data centres on Earth,\u201d he told news.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it is not a perfect environment. Getting equipment into orbit is expensive, maintenance is difficult, and radiation is a problem. Also, cooling powerful computers in the vacuum of space is technically very challenging. So China has taken an impressive early step, but we are still some way from knowing whether orbital data centres can operate economically at a very large scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it was unwise to count the US out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe US already has some extraordinary advantages, including companies such as SpaceX with advanced reusable rocket capability and Nvidia as the world\u2019s leading AI chip technology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere China may have an advantage is speed and co-ordination. China can often align government, research institutions, manufacturers and infrastructure projects very quickly around a national priority. Western countries generally have more regulatory processes and many independent organisations that need to work together. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat can make them slower initially. But if orbital computing proves commercially valuable, I think the US in particular has the technology and capital to move quickly too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the US held advantages in frontier AI models, advanced chip design, private investment, cloud infrastructure and the commercial technology ecosystem around AI.<\/p>\n
It was is home to Silicon Valley and mega companies like Google, Anthropic and Open AI.<\/p>\n
But China is catching up quickly, he warned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has changed dramatically is how small the technology gap has become. A few years ago there was a clear performance gap between the best American and Chinese AI models,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cToday that gap is very small, and in some areas Chinese models are competitive with the world\u2019s best. So I don\u2019t think we can really talk about one country having overall AI superiority anymore. Different countries now have advantages in different parts of the AI ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Double-edged sword\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Prof Mirjalili said if Beijing succeeds, it could \u201cquite significantly\u201d change the AI race.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil now, we have mostly thought about the AI race in terms of who has the best algorithms, models and computer chips. Increasingly, it is becoming an infrastructure race as well. Countries will compete over who has access to the most computing power, energy, chips, data centres, communication networks and perhaps even launch capacity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrbital data centres could become another layer of that infrastructure. The country that learns how to build and operate them reliably and economically first could gain years of practical experience and potentially help establish the technical standards that everyone else later follows. That is why I think China\u2019s move is very important for the future even though it is far too early to declare a winner in the broader AI race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dan Lloyd, head of the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA), said there were a number of indications China could pull ahead of the West.<\/p>\n
He said the US government\u2019s annual assessment of Chinese military strengths found Beijing had innovative and \u201chighly effective\u201d assets in orbit.<\/p>\n
This included space lasers, remote-controlled robots and spacecraft capable of carrying out electronic warfare.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina is very serious. It has many assets up in space, and the Allied ecosystem needs to accelerate its capability to ensure that we don\u2019t lose advantage in the most critical domain for economic growth, for national security, for economic resilience, for defence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina has already deployed the first 12 of its 2800 satellite constellations that are an interconnected AI supercomputer on orbit. It\u2019s already up there. It\u2019s already happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the kit can also be a \u201cdouble-edged sword\u201d, according to Dr Davis.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you put this infrastructure up in space and it\u2019s effectively not only running military forces, but it\u2019s also running economies and cities and so forth and everything in our modern society, it becomes critical terrain that must be defended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Orbital data centres need protecting from space junk and enemy interference, Dr Davis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlready the US is responding to the Chinese and Russian moves by declaring space as a warfighting domain and is starting to think in terms of orbital warfare and what that would require in terms of military capabilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey stood up in 2019 the US Space Force for this reason, to respond to the PLA\u2019s (People\u2019s Liberation Army) strategic support force, which is now the PLA Aerospace Force. So yeah, I think all the trends are heading towards space going from an operational domain to a warfighting domain.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Department of Industry, Science and Resources said the government has been clear that data centres will have a pivotal role in Australia\u2019s future economic prosperity.<\/p>\n
They said the technology will provide Australians with the computing power they need to take full advantage of technology like AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we have to get this right. While Australia welcomes this investment, we need to ensure data centre and AI infrastructure is built to Australian standards and values, and in a way that balances the needs of our communities, our industries and our environment,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means not adding additional pressure to our energy grids or water resources. It means meeting the strict environment and planning approvals to meet Australian laws.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Ayres, the federal minister for industry and innovation, previously said AI firms operating in Australia would have to invest in more renewable energy than they consume. He also said nuclear energy was \u201ca dumb idea\u201d and very expensive.<\/p>\n
In July, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the establishment of The Office of AI. The body will work with several departments to co-ordinate the design of new Australian standards for AI.<\/p>\n
News.com.au understands the government is not aware of any proposed Australian orbital data centre developments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s economy is on a collision course with disaster \u2013 and time is quickly running out to change…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[261],"tags":[285375,285446,285427,285435,285406,285445,259808,285438,285439,285365,285383,263984,285443,285403,285368,285413,285424,257566,285461,285382,285419,4465,285453,285374,285410,291,41814,285431,7605,285411,285387,285390,285393,285454,285459,285425,285452,289,290,285436,285395,1128,1793,285433,20302,8716,381,285401,6930,2078,285398,2594,16064,5462,285420,285434,285457,6599,285416,51800,18,1647,7520,285384,285404,17590,285381,849,285444,285456,285392,3428,40352,285450,285385,19,17,285415,285366,285405,285458,285462,4192,11661,10316,285430,285429,285437,285441,11499,285386,285442,5,253607,22124,292,17210,285418,262462,285373,285369,4626,285409,76346,4145,3141,285432,24343,29725,285455,55989,285378,8917,285417,285463,285400,451,132139,285376,2731,285447,285426,190113,82,285377,285412,285440,285422,285421,285367,285414,285388,285397,285372,285399,285396,10440,285370,271928,285451,285460,285407,285380,285389,285423,285379,124082,285449,256752,285428,285391,1093,285402,285371,285448,285394,285408,254385],"class_list":["post-675039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ordinationseyedali-mirjalili","tag-s-economy","tag-s-leading-ai-chip-technology","tag-s-rapid-advance","tag-s-stark-warning","tag-star-hub","tag-10-years","tag-1000-satellites","tag-a-collision-course","tag-a-data-centre","tag-a-key-foundation","tag-a-lot","tag-a-mass-adoption","tag-a-massive-amount","tag-a-national-priority","tag-a-national-strategic-priority","tag-a-perfect-environment","tag-a-problem","tag-a-third-rate-economy","tag-a-very-attractive-place","tag-a-very-large-scale","tag-access","tag-advanced-chip-design","tag-advanced-reusable-rocket-capability","tag-advantages","tag-ai","tag-ai-computing","tag-ai-data-centre-boom","tag-america","tag-an-advantage","tag-an-arena","tag-an-effective-economy-and-society","tag-an-endless-supply","tag-an-expert","tag-an-impressive-early-step","tag-another-option","tag-another-space-based-computing-network","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-aspi","tag-aus","tag-australia","tag-beijing","tag-blunt-assessment","tag-casc","tag-challenges","tag-china","tag-china-on-demand","tag-companies","tag-computing-power","tag-cooling-powerful-computers","tag-data","tag-direction","tag-disaster","tag-disaster-and","tag-dr-davis","tag-early-moves","tag-earth","tag-earth-right","tag-economies","tag-eire","tag-elon-musk","tag-energy","tag-enormous-amounts","tag-enough-baseload-power","tag-equipment","tag-euro-news-in","tag-expert","tag-expert-issues","tag-experts-the-problem","tag-frontier-ai-models","tag-government","tag-governments","tag-her-home-makes-that","tag-his-own-orbital-data-centre-company-starmind","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-its-energy-policy-a-us-resident","tag-its-goal-it","tag-its-own-fleet","tag-its-power-supply-dr-malcolm-davis","tag-japan-and-europe","tag-july","tag-land","tag-maintenance","tag-manufacturers-and-infrastructure-projects","tag-many-independent-organisations","tag-may-2025","tag-military-experts","tag-momentum","tag-more-regulatory-processes","tag-new-data-centres","tag-news","tag-news-com-au","tag-nuclear-reactors","tag-nvidia","tag-orbit","tag-orbital-ai-data-centres","tag-orbital-computing","tag-orbital-data-centres","tag-our-economy","tag-power-generation","tag-power-new-data-facilities","tag-professor","tag-radiation","tag-research-institutions","tag-researchers-and-companies","tag-reusable-rockets","tag-sectors","tag-server-farms","tag-servers","tag-shipping-and-finance","tag-solar-energy","tag-some-extraordinary-advantages","tag-some-tech","tag-some-way","tag-space","tag-space-based-computing","tag-space-he","tag-spacex","tag-speed-and-co-ordination","tag-state-owned-industries-and-government-policy","tag-tank","tag-technology","tag-that-area-experts","tag-the-first-mover-advantage","tag-the-24-7-sound","tag-the-ai-space-race","tag-the-alarm","tag-the-americans","tag-the-artificial-intelligence-boom","tag-the-australian-strategic-policy-institute","tag-the-chinese","tag-the-construction","tag-the-first-fully-operational-space-based-computing-network","tag-the-first-moves","tag-the-government","tag-the-hour-china","tag-the-question","tag-the-same-constraints","tag-the-same-way","tag-the-south-china-morning-post","tag-the-space-and-defence-expert","tag-the-state-owned-china-aerospace-science-and-technology-corporation","tag-the-technology-and-capital","tag-the-three-body-constellation","tag-the-us","tag-the-vacuum","tag-the-world","tag-third-rate-economy","tag-those-early-moves","tag-time","tag-time-based-computing-services","tag-torrens-university","tag-uneasy-dr-davis","tag-water-and-electricity","tag-western-countries","tag-xingshu"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}