For years, the sprawling warehouses powering artificial intelligence have been built on Earth, consuming enormous amounts of electricity and water and running into resistance from the communities where they are located.

Now, some of the technology industry’s biggest names are looking to the skies. Google, SpaceX, and a collection of startups are exploring whether the next generation of AI infrastructure could operate in orbit, powered by the sun and freed from many of the constraints that make terrestrial data centers so controversial.