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SpaceX has filed plans with the FCC for a massive satellite based data center network, signaling that Elon Musk is serious about moving AI computing into orbit. This effort lines up with the newly completed merger of SpaceX and xAI, suggesting a shared infrastructure vision.

Musk argues that space based data centers make sense because solar panels generate far more power in orbit, potentially lowering energy costs and making large scale expansion easier than on Earth. Critics point out that power is only one part of data center economics and raise concerns about maintenance and hardware failures in space.

With SpaceX benefiting directly from launches and an IPO on the horizon, orbital data centers are likely to become a major talking point as tech companies continue pouring huge sums into AI infrastructure.

Anthropic announced Claude Opus 4.6, its latest AI model designed to deliver stronger coding performance, sustain longer and more complex tasks, and produce higher quality professional outputs, marking the company’s first major model launch of the year and building on last year’s rapid release cycle.

Claude Opus 4.6 improves planning, code review, debugging, large codebase reliability, document analysis, research, and financial analysis, and now leads the Finance Agent benchmark for core analyst tasks. Available via claude.ai, API access, and major cloud platforms, the model represents a shift from simple conversational assistance to handling meaningful, end to end work, a transition Anthropic describes as moving from “vibe coding” toward broader “vibe working.”

At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing featuring executives from Tesla and Waymo, lawmakers expressed strong optimism about the future of autonomous vehicles in the US and signaled interest in modernizing federal regulations to improve safety, build public trust, and compete with China, even as public skepticism remains high.

Industry leaders urged Congress to establish a national framework enforced by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The hearing highlighted tension between rapid industry progress and limited regulatory capacity, concerns over staffing cuts at NHTSA, and the challenge of winning over a public that largely distrusts self driving cars, even as Waymo reported its autonomous vehicles are involved in fewer crashes than human drivers and already deliver hundreds of thousands of rides each week.

Google’s Q4 2025 results showed Alphabet surpassing $400 billion in annual revenue as Search grew 17 percent and Cloud surged 48 percent to a $70 billion run rate, driven by explosive enterprise and consumer adoption of Gemini, including 8 million Gemini Enterprise seats sold in four months and 750 million monthly active users on the Gemini app.

Cloud backlog jumped 55 percent to $240 billion, signaling sustained AI demand, prompting Google to plan an unprecedented $175 to $185 billion in capital expenditures for 2026 to scale AI infrastructure, as AI using Cloud customers consume 1.8 times more services than non AI users.