News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:xAI joins SpaceX by consumer451 on Monday February 02, 2026 @06:58PM (#46864183)
Ok... so, let's reset, please. I bet that we have very similar intentions, and yet on internet forums, we have perfected the art of users speaking past each other.

Just to get on the same page here. My arugument is that prior to Elon Musk, the only human capable of launching >1M distributed solar powered inference nodes, if one accepts runaway AGI/ASI as a threat... prior to that we had a few hundred terrestrial AI inference mega-data centers. Most of them had easily disrupted power supplies by one dude with a Sawzall.

Now, we are moving to a paradigm where the power supply is the sun, the orbital plane gives the nodes power 24/7, and the dude with the Sawzall needs to buy >10,000x (not sure of the the multiple here) the Sawzalls, and also give them escape velocity.

Can we not agree that this is a much more difficult problem to "just unplug it," than it was when the potentially troublesome inference was terrestrial?

Re:xAI joins SpaceX by defrost on Monday February 02, 2026 @07:12PM (#46864347)
To address your grade-A snark upthread which provided a chuckle, you may indeed have a better grasp of orbital mechanics than I do; I've not worked in the field professionally since I dealt with raw MODIS streams direct from ground stations.

And, moving on in good faith; yes, things can be difficult but not insurmountable or impossible.

Let's call rendering LEO unusable a real actual risk going orward .. there are papers on this.

My attitudes are shaped by having grown up with literal Z-force / SASR types; my father (still alive) had a lifelong friendship with Major General Philip Michael Jeffery, I took theodolite lessons from Len Beadell, diving lessons from Jack Wong Sue, and my aunts flew spitfires, jets, and heavy bombers in WWII.

There are many people in this world who, if asked, would regard taking out a LEO constellation as an interesting challenge.

Re:xAI joins SpaceX by consumer451 on Monday February 02, 2026 @08:06PM (#46864865)
My up thread commentary was not meant as real snark at all. I was trying to be genuine.

However, I think it did accomplish my goal. I bet that we could now have a beer/tea, and laugh together.

If you are ever near Wroclaw, Prague, Leipzig/Dresden, or Seattle, please email my username at the the big G. I would happily meet you at the nearest lovely hotel bar. HN mini meetup. I can only imagine the stories that we might exchange.

Re:xAI joins SpaceX by defrost on Monday February 02, 2026 @08:39PM (#46865162)
:-)

Look, I'm Australian, I enjoy a bit of banter. I stripped the personal info from my comment above; I was happy to share with you, reluctant to leave it as was.

I was a frequent Toronto visitor, for the TSX, back when we ran a minerals intelligence service before passing that onto Standard&Poor.

You're on the list, however my movements are constrained for now, my father's a feriously active nonagenarian which is keeping me with one foot nailed to the ground here for now.

Re:xAI joins SpaceX by consumer451 on Monday February 02, 2026 @10:37PM (#46866147)
Cheers to you and your father.

Also, thank you for the reminder that I need to get my ass back to Seattle to be with remaining parent, while I still can. I have been a jackass about that.