Jeff Bezos, the founder of the rocket company Blue Origin, recently shared his ambitious vision for humanity’s future in space. Speaking with Italian billionaire and member of that nation’s powerful Agnelli family John Elkann, Bezos said emphatically. He dreams of a time when millions of people will live and work in space. He was adamant that this great wave of new population will happen “largely on their own terms.”
Nonetheless, Bezos envisions a day when the robotic workforce will do the majority of the heavy-lifting in space. This will enable humans to reach their full potential in a vastly different landscape. He shared his insights on the promising technological developments that can help make this vision a reality. One of those innovations is massive artificial intelligence (AI) data centers floating above Earth. This adoption of AI is part of what Bezos considers a hopeful new advance in technology.
That’s what Bezos is trying to defend with this current boom in AI investments. First, he describes it as an “industrial” bubble, noting that it’s different from conventional financial bubbles. He expressed optimism about advancements in AI, stating, “There has never been a better time to be excited about the future.”
The exchange focused on the zero-sum world of competition characterizing space industry disruption, especially between Bezos and entrepreneur counterpart Elon Musk. Musk has long predicted that humans could colonize Mars, suggesting that one million people might inhabit the planet by 2050. This rivalry highlights the contrast between the priorities each man has for humanity’s future among the stars.
Musk has made colonizing Mars his singular focus. Bezos now imagines a future of millions of people living in different settlements both on and outside planet Earth. He noted that significant developments in space exploration and habitation could occur “in the next couple of decades,” presenting an optimistic outlook for extraterrestrial living.
