Cisco wants to build data centers in space for AI
Cisco's Jeetu Patel just floated a bold idea: putting data centers in space to handle the exploding demand from AI.
He pointed out that the intense sunlight up there could make cooling way more efficient—a big deal since cooling systems are 90% of the weight in a rack.
The goal? Solve power and cooling issues so we can support up to a mind-boggling 800 billion AI agents worldwide.
Why space, and what's next?
Patel says tech is moving so fast—what used to take years now happens in months—that even big challenges like cooling in a vacuum or ensuring the right level of connectivity of the data centers are issues he says need to be addressed.
He's confident these space-based data centers could totally change how we build tech infrastructure and keep things running efficiently as AI keeps growing.
He framed this as part of the industry's rapid pace of innovation.