Claude Code is a developer tool for developers. And yet, over the last year and especially the last few months, the team at Anthropic has seen a huge number of people, across industries and disciplines, figure out how to access their terminal so that they could build new stuff too. Few AI products have found true product-market fit the way Claude Code has. But how did that happen? And are we ever going to get out of the terminal?

On this episode of The Vergecast, Anthropic’s Boris Cherny, the head of Claude Code, explains how the project has taken off over the last year. Cherny has made a lot of headlines recently by saying that Claude Code now writes 100 percent of his code, and he explains how his relationship to that code has changed. We also talk about Cowork, and Anthropic’s ongoing attempt to make Claude Code (and everything) a little more accessible to everyday users. It won’t just be chat windows, but nobody’s exactly sure what it will be yet.

After that, The Verge’s Hayden Field joins the show to continue our conversation from a few weeks ago about AI and privacy. These new agentic systems all ask for vast access to our data, our apps, even our devices themselves, in exchange for doing lots of useful things on our behalf. Hayden walks through the tradeoffs inherent in that access and how you should think about guarding your data going forward.

Finally, The Verge’s Allison Johnson helps David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about how the RAM shortage will affect your gadget purchases this year. Depending on who you are, and how old your gadgets are, it’s either time to do some maintenance or do some upgrading.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started:

If your phone heats up while running AI, imagine what happens inside a massive data center. Now imagine moving that data center into orbit.

That is exactly what China and Elon Musk are planning. It is a serious race to build space-based AI data centers powered by sunlight in space.

At stake? The future of artificial intelligence, energy dominance and who controls the next layer of digital infrastructure.

Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report
Get my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide – free when you join my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter.

China’s plan: Gigawatt-class space computing

China’s main space contractor, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, outlined a five-year plan to build what it calls “gigawatt-class space digital-intelligence infrastructure,” according to reporting cited by CCTV.  While that phrase may sound bureaucratic. It is not.

Gigawatt-class means massive energy output. Think industrial scale. These proposed orbital hubs would integrate cloud, edge and device-level computing. In simple terms, data collected on Earth could be processed in space instead of inside giant warehouses in Arizona or Inner Mongolia.

The vision goes even further. A December policy document describes an industrial-scale “Space Cloud” by 2030. The goal is deep integration of computing power, storage and transmission bandwidth, all powered by solar energy in orbit. China also signaled that space-based solar power tied to AI computing will be a core pillar of its upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan. It’s all part of its national strategy.

Elon Musk says the lowest-cost AI will be in space

Meanwhile, Elon Musk is making a similar bet. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Musk said SpaceX plans to launch solar-powered AI data center satellites within two to three years. He argued that space is the “lowest-cost place to put AI” and predicted that it will be true within a few years. Why? Solar power in orbit can generate far more energy than panels on the ground. Musk said orbital solar generation can produce roughly five times more power because there are no clouds and no night cycles in the same way as on Earth. SpaceX reportedly expects to use funds from a planned $25 billion IPO to help develop these orbital AI systems.

This makes sense when you consider that AI is devouring electricity. Training and running large models requires enormous computing clusters. Power grids are straining in places like Texas and Northern Virginia. So the thinking is simple. If Earth runs short on clean energy for AI, move the servers closer to the sun.

The real bottleneck: Reusable rockets

There is only one problem. Getting hardware into space is expensive. SpaceX solved part of that with its Falcon 9 reusable rocket. Reusability dramatically lowers launch costs. It also enabled SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network to dominate low Earth orbit.

China, on the other hand, has not yet completed a fully successful reusable rocket program capable of repeated, reliable flights. That is a major bottleneck. Without reusability, the cost of launching and maintaining space-based AI infrastructure remains high.

Still, China achieved a record 93 space launches last year, according to official announcements. Its commercial space startups are maturing quickly. And Beijing has made it clear it wants to become a “world-leading space power” by 2045. In other words, this is a long game.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HELPS FUEL NEW ENERGY SOURCES

It is not just about data centers

China’s five-year plan also includes suborbital space tourism and the gradual development of orbital tourism. That signals a broader push to commercialize space in a way similar to civil aviation.

At the same time, both the U.S. and China see strategic and military advantages in dominating orbit. China recently inaugurated its first School of Interstellar Navigation within the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The goal is to move from near-Earth orbit to deep space exploration. State media described the next 10 to 20 years as a window for leapfrog development in interstellar navigation.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is racing to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era. The competition is heating up on multiple fronts. AI infrastructure in space is just one piece of a much larger chessboard.

Why this matters to you

You might be thinking, “Great. Billionaires and governments are fighting over satellites. Why should I care?” Here is why. AI is becoming embedded in everything. Search results. Customer service. Medical imaging. Financial systems. Smart homes. All of that runs on computing power. And that computing power runs on energy. If the cheapest and most abundant energy for AI ends up being in orbit, the balance of tech power could shift dramatically. Countries that control space-based AI infrastructure could gain economic leverage, military advantages and technological dominance. This is the next layer of the cloud. Not in a warehouse. Not in a desert. But circling above your head.

Take my quiz: How safe is your online security?

Think your devices and data are truly protected? Take this quick quiz to see where your digital habits stand. From passwords to Wi-Fi settings, you’ll get a personalized breakdown of what you’re doing right and what needs improvement. Take my Quiz here: Cyberguy.com.

CHINA QUIETLY BUILDS WORLDWIDE SPACE NETWORK, ALARMING US OVER FUTURE MILITARY POWER

Kurt’s key takeaways

For decades, space was about flags and footprints. Today, the focus is shifting toward servers and solar arrays as governments and private companies rethink where the world’s most powerful computers should operate. China is pursuing a “Space Cloud,” while Elon Musk argues that AI belongs in orbit. Both are racing toward a future where advanced computing systems are powered by uninterrupted sunlight above Earth. That shift sounds bold and carries real risk. However, if AI continues to accelerate and energy demand keeps climbing, moving computing infrastructure into space may start to look less radical and more inevitable.

If the infrastructure powering AI moves into orbit, who should control it? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report
Get my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide – free when you join my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter.

Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.

Related Article