Musk on first principles: batteries cost $600/kWh but $80 in materials — and why he wants AI data centers in space
elonmusk · x · 2026-11-10
Elon Musk reposted two classic interview clips. On first-principles reasoning: battery packs sell at $600/kWh while raw materials cost only $80, and the gap persists because most people "reason by analogy" — assuming batteries will always be expensive because they always have been. Real innovation requires boiling problems down to fundamental physics. On AI energy: he acknowledges AI power demand (and electricity bills) will keep growing as capabilities advance, and offers his trademark radical answer — instead of conserving energy on Earth, build AI data centers in space.
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