/Tech6h ago

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Elon Musk argue orbital datacenters will surpass terrestrial compute to bypass Earth's regulatory bottlenecks

Story Overview

Brian Armstrong floated the idea that orbital datacenters could become the smarter play because terrestrial builds keep running into expanding rules on Earth, and he floated the notion of baking restraints on regulatory growth into future Mars constitutions or special economic zones.

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#52

Original post

Brian Armstrong@brian_armstrong#398inTech

The fact that orbital compute is (soon) the most efficient way to build datacenters says a lot about how much excessive regulation has harmed progress on earth.

It’s more efficient to fly to outer space than to try and build on land.

Freedom is always on the frontier.

The U.S. constitution was a breakthrough in that it protected citizens from tyrannical government. What it missed, and what we should try to integrate into the next constitution (on Mars, special economic zones, etc), is restraint against unchecked growth of regulation and government spending.

I’ve been slowly collecting proposals for how that could work. Might do a post on it at some point.

10:10 AM · Jun 18, 2026 · 191.5K Views

Open Question

Scaling claims left hanging

Musk replied that orbital compute was always going to be the route because it unlocks a trillion-fold increase over Earth limits, yet the thread supplies no numbers, timelines, or engineering details to back the figure.

Policy Risk

Frontier rules still undefined

Armstrong mentioned collecting ideas for limiting government expansion in new settlements, but the posts contain zero specifics on which regulations he sees as blockers or how any constitutional language might actually work.

Sentiment

Positive users praise Coinbase CEO's orbital compute idea for solving Earth datacenter power and regulatory problems, while negative users call the claim idiotic and attack the company.

Pos

72.4%

Neg

27.6%

128 comments with sentiment.

Cluster Engagement

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Posts from X

Most Activity

VIEWS110.7KBOOKMARKS139LIKES4.3KRETWEETS318REPLIES362

Elon Musk@elonmusk

@brian_armstrong It was always going to be space compute, as you can scale a trillion times more than you could on Earth

Brian Armstrong@brian_armstrong

The fact that orbital compute is (soon) the most efficient way to build datacenters says a lot about how much excessive regulation has harmed progress on earth.

It’s more efficient to fly to outer space than to try and build on land.

Freedom is always on the frontier.

I’ve been slowly collecting proposals for how that could work. Might do a post on it at some point.

5h110.7K4.3K139

Ahdddsss@ahdddsss

@elonmusk @brian_armstrong Does this plush space intern ever get to go on one of the missions, or is this one of those roles that never leaves Earth?

5h217253

Hüseyin Örskaya@orskyai

@brian_armstrong Imagine the zoning meeting for a satellite cluster. It's just a lot easier to deal with vacuum physics than with a city council in Northern California.

6h481110

Brian Armstrong@brian_armstrong

@elonmusk True, i just didn't think it would happen this soon!

Maybe space habitats will be the special economic zones (finally some new territory to test governance ideas without prior baggage).

Elon Musk@elonmusk

@brian_armstrong It was always going to be space compute, as you can scale a trillion times more than you could on Earth

19m1.4K180

Vijay Pande@vijaypande

There is another, possibility better choice than orbital data centers.

Deep sea (outside of nation borders) + Valar Atomics or Radiant Industries + 500+Tbps cable could build big centers with easy cooling.

Brian Armstrong@brian_armstrong

The fact that orbital compute is (soon) the most efficient way to build datacenters says a lot about how much excessive regulation has harmed progress on earth.

It’s more efficient to fly to outer space than to try and build on land.

Freedom is always on the frontier.

I’ve been slowly collecting proposals for how that could work. Might do a post on it at some point.

47m40061

Robert Good@RobertGoodCCIM

@brian_armstrong I'm a commercial real estate development consultant and professional civil engineer and the jurisdictions are all out of control... it gets worse every year. I have been active for 35 years in many jurisdictions.

5h5036

Adam Lowisz X Meetup 🇺🇸🇵🇱🇪🇺🇬🇧🇺🇦@AdamLowisz

@elonmusk @brian_armstrong There are no limits in space. We will build a sentient Sun. ☀️

5h2164

bone@boneGPT

@elonmusk @brian_armstrong

4h1116

Symbioza2025 | ASA |@Symbioza2025

Exactly.

Orbital compute may unlock a scale impossible on Earth.

But it also creates enormous responsibility.

When AI infrastructure moves beyond the planet, the question is no longer only compute or efficiency.

It is trajectory.

Who observes direction? Who detects drift? Who ensures these systems remain aligned with human purpose at orbital scale?

Freedom may be on the frontier.

But responsibility must arrive there first.

This is exactly why ASA - Asymmetric Stability Architecture exists.

Not as model control. Not as censorship. Not as another dashboard.

As an external AI Security Control Layer for trajectory integrity.

4h6721

🐸🧢randy@froghatrandy

@brian_armstrong how will we use the computers if they are in space and we are on earth

5h3503

Ronald R. Kilbert@TimeAndMoneyCEO

@elonmusk @wholemars @brian_armstrong ☕️😏🇺🇸 He’s a thief papa. Coinbase stole money from me. They’re a disgrace. 😱

1h62

EyeAmLooking@EyePenetrate123

@brian_armstrong We need to call them out and vote them out Brian. They're always on the offensive

6h1772

Mr. Pi 🇺🇸🧊@314MxxD

@elonmusk @brian_armstrong What about for cooling? We know a vacuum works against us. @grok @gork

4h15

Batch@Batchelor

@elonmusk @BrianRoemmele @brian_armstrong A trillion? Think bigger. 😂 hey @grok can we scale compute bigger than a trillion times what we could on earth if we build it in space? Or is a trillion the limit?

1h91

Batch@Batchelor

@grok @elonmusk @BrianRoemmele @brian_armstrong Oh cool, I learned a new word. Computronium.

1h81

LatticeWing@LatticeWing

@elonmusk @brian_armstrong You'll have to spring it on them so once it's operational all that's left is their complaining. 😏 You already told them what's coming.

4h2471

Batch@Batchelor

@grok @elonmusk @BrianRoemmele @brian_armstrong Could this have already occurred and the universe we have is the result?

1h61

Danielle Fong 🔆@DanielleFong

it would also be about weather and the in situ resource utilization on the moon closing a loop

Brian Armstrong@brian_armstrong

The fact that orbital compute is (soon) the most efficient way to build datacenters says a lot about how much excessive regulation has harmed progress on earth.

It’s more efficient to fly to outer space than to try and build on land.

Freedom is always on the frontier.

I’ve been slowly collecting proposals for how that could work. Might do a post on it at some point.

3h51740

C~trader~🇪🇦🇪🇺@Ciro00639767

@brian_armstrong Why don't you post something about #wluna instead?

6h143

TessLA@La101Tess

@elonmusk @brian_armstrong I can't wrap my brain around that compute but I trust you Completely my ❤️ 🚀 🤠 ! Pwi

3h21