He Just Said It Out Loud
- Rich Washburn
- Jan 22
- 2 min read
So my partner over at Eliakim Capital, Todd, sent me this article a few hours ago — Elon Musk at Davos, talking about how the limiting factor for AI isn’t chips… it’s power — and that the future is solar-powered AI data centers in space. And I just kind of sat there for a minute.Because I’ve been living inside that exact conversation all week.
I’ve been down at the Freedom Center in Sunrise — this massive old HBO Latin America broadcast facility that we’re bringing back online with the Data Power Supply team — trying to trace fiber paths, assess power systems, and basically map out how this thing breathes.
It’s been chaos in the best way. Long nights. A lot of problem-solving. I think I’ve gone to bed before 5 a.m. once this week. So when I read that line from Elon — that the constraint isn’t compute, it’s energy — I just laughed. Because that’s exactly the conversation I’ve been having on-site for days.
The Power Realization
It’s funny how it all connects.
When Data Power Supply started, our whole business was GPUs — compute, hash, horsepower. But we realized something fast: none of it matters if you don’t have the power to run it. Every project was stalled, not because of chips, but because of grid. So we shifted gears — stopped just selling compute and started building the infrastructure to power it.
That was the “aha” moment a year and a half ago. We thought we were in the GPU business, but it turns out we were in the energy business all along. And that’s exactly what Musk said this week — that energy, not hardware, is the real bottleneck for AI.
It’s validation, sure, but also a kind of eerie alignment. Like the rest of the world just tuned into the same frequency we’ve been working on quietly for months.
The Space Part
And then there’s the wild part — the space piece.
He said the quiet thing out loud: AI data centers in orbit. It makes perfect sense if you think about it — unlimited solar input, no weather, no cooling cost. The physics just work.
And the craziest part? We’re literally standing in one of the few facilities in the hemisphere that already has the teleport infrastructure to connect Earth to orbit. We weren’t designing for Elon’s playbook, but it turns out we were building in the same direction.
Where It Lands
I’m not writing this as a flex. I’m just kind of… stunned.
Because every once in a while, you spend months grinding through details — wires, generators, permits, spreadsheets — and then someone goes on the global stage and says the thing that ties it all together.
And you realize you’re not off in the weeds. You’re early.
That’s how this week feels. Tired. Validated. Energized. Like we’re standing right at the edge of what’s next — watching the world finally say it out loud.
If this kind of infrastructure or location aligns with what you’re building, reach out to my partner Jimmy over at Data Power Supply — he’s leading the charge on tenant discussions and power integrations.
“The data centers are going to space. But first, they’ll stop here.”
— Rich Washburn
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