Skip to content
Quotes.

Elon Musk quote, Feb 5, 2026

CEO, Tesla and xAI · Feb 5, 2026 · Interview, Dwarkesh Podcast: In 36 months, the cheapest place to put AI will be space

The limiting factor once you can get to space is chips, but the limiting factor before you can get to space is power.

Primary source

Words found on the source page on Sep 25, 2026.

More from Elon Musk

Quote
But I think China’s going to be making pretty compelling chips in three or four years.Feb 5, 2026· Interview
In 36 months, but probably closer to 30 months, the most economically compelling place to put AI will be space.Feb 5, 2026· Interview
Meaning, five years from now, my prediction is we will launch and be operating every year more AI in space than the cumulative total on Earth.Feb 5, 2026· Interview
My guess is that people start getting to the point where they can’t turn the chips on for large clusters towards the end of this year. The chips are going to be piling up and won’t be able to be turned on.Feb 5, 2026· Interview
The output of chips is growing pretty much exponentially, but the output of electricity is flat.Feb 5, 2026· Interview
Truth has to be absolutely fundamental because you can’t understand the universe if you’re delusional.Feb 5, 2026· Interview
Well, I’d be surprised by the end of this year if digital human emulation has not been solved.Feb 5, 2026· Interview

On the same topics

Quote
Demand for our custom AI accelerators and networking continues to be very strong. Q3 AI semiconductor revenue of $16.7 billion grew 221% year-over-year, and 54% quarter-over-quarter...Hock TanSep 2, 2026· Earnings
In Q4 the momentum continues, and we expect AI semiconductor revenue to accelerate to $21.7 billion, up 236% year-over-year.Hock TanSep 2, 2026· Earnings
Within a generation, the way we discover medicine, manage power grids, and secure our national infrastructure will be completely transformed.Aidan GomezSeptember 2026· Essay
The AI infrastructure buildout is at full steam. Vera Rubin, now in full production, was built to power exactly this moment.Jensen HuangAug 26, 2026· Earnings
More broadly, AI is driving a significant expansion in demand for compute across all of our markets, and our leadership portfolio and growing customer visibility position us exceptionally well to capture this expanding opportunity and deliver substantial revenue and earnings growth in the years ahead.Lisa SuAug 4, 2026· Earnings
AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute, and as we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise, ASICs, advanced packaging and vast wafer foundry network...Lip-Bu TanJul 23, 2026· Earnings
About this quote
Said by
Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla and xAI
Where
Dwarkesh Podcast: In 36 months, the cheapest place to put AI will be space
Topics
Chips, Energy
Company
xAI
Source
dwarkesh.com/p/elon-musk

A quote is one moment, not the whole argument. Read it in context at the source.

Sources: the primary source linked on each quote, checked weekly. A quote is one moment; read the source. Logos via logo.dev; trademarks belong to their owners.

New quotes by email

Fridays, only in weeks with new on-the-record quotes from data and AI leaders.

Double opt-in. Unsubscribe any time.