Elon Musk’s plans for SpaceX depend on Starship and AI

Upon reading the initial public offering document SpaceX submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission, one reaches two inescapable conclusions.

Starship must become an operational vehicle for the company to succeed. The mostly successful test of version 3 of Starship should provide investors some confidence that the launch vehicle will, sooner or later, become operational, especially if subsequent tests demonstrate more reliability.

SpaceX’s AI play, ultimately involving orbiting, solar-powered data centers, must pan out to create near-term revenues for the company. Along with Starlink and launch services, the company is relying on AI for near to mid-term growth.

The main impediment to SpaceX capturing a chunk of the AI revolution may be more political than technical. Right off the bat, SpaceX gets around the resistance of some local communities to living next to AI data centers by locating them in space, exposed to abundant sunlight for power. However, many people have developed an existential dread about the very idea of AI.

For some, the fear is that the technology will wipe out many white-collar jobs, especially in the tech industry. Others are afraid that AI will go berserk and either destroy or enslave humans. This has been the subject of science fiction since at least the 1960s, when Hal 9000 from “2001: A Space Odyssey” refused to open the pod bay doors.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, (I-Vt.) who compares billionaires like Elon Musk to “oligarchs of the 18th Century,” has been beating the........

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