Space Data Centers Powering AI's Future, Right-Wing Policy Debates

Resources

Resources & Recommendations

Books

• "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" - A comic book that illustrates how cosmic radiation transformed the Richards family and Ben Grimm into the Fantastic Four.

Research & Studies

• Project Suncatcher Paper (Google) - Details Google's proposal for a future space-based, highly scalable AI infrastructure system design.
• AI Action Plan (White House) - A document drafted by Dean Ball that represents the administration's official view on AI policy.

Tools & Software

• Google AI Studio - A platform where Google tests new AI models, used by Mark Humphreys to experiment with an unreleased Gemini model.
• Gemini 2.5 Pro - An AI model that achieved about 95% accuracy in transcribing handwritten documents, serving as a benchmark for Mark Humphreys' research.
• GPT-4 - An early AI model that could "kind of sort of" read handwritten documents, with mostly errors, but showed early potential.

Articles & Papers

• "Has Google Quietly Solved Two of AI's Oldest Problems" (Generative History Substack by Mark Humphreys) - An article by Mark Humphreys detailing his experience with a mystery AI model that showed astounding capabilities in historical document transcription and symbolic reasoning.

People Mentioned

• Dean Ball - Former White House Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology, who led the drafting of the AI Action Plan.
• Jeff Bezos - Founder of Amazon, mentioned as being interested in space-based data centers.
• Eric Schmidt - Former Google CEO, mentioned as being interested in space-based data centers.
• Mark Humphreys (History Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada) - Historian who uses AI in his research involving old documents and handwriting deciphering, and who conducted the experiment with the mystery Gemini model.
• Leanne Leddy (Research Partner of Mark Humphreys) - Collaborates with Mark Humphreys on developing ways to process large amounts of historical data using AI.
• Alex Heath - Reporter who expected Gemini 3 to be released in December.
• Ezra Klein - Journalist and podcaster, whose phrase "government as a grand enterprise in risk management" was referenced.
• Michael Dell - Founder of Dell Technologies, whose quote about Apple in the 90s was referenced.
• David Sachs - President's AI Tsar, mentioned as having a view on AI that dismisses "doomers."
• Steve Bannon - Political strategist, mentioned as having a view on AI that focuses on existential risks.

Organizations & Institutions

• Y Combinator - A startup accelerator that provided funding to Starcloud, a company developing space-based data centers.
• Mercatus Center at George Mason University - A think tank where Dean Ball worked before joining the White House.
• Foundation for American Innovation - An organization where Dean Ball is a senior fellow after leaving the White House.
• Planet - A company that sends up tiny satellites into space for mapping, partnering with Google for prototype satellite launches.
• Axiom Space - A company also involved in developing space-based data centers.
• TSMC - A major chip manufacturer, mentioned in the context of competition for chip production.
• Anthropic - An AI lab mentioned as making a commitment to build their own data centers and having employees who care about AI safety.
• OpenAI - An AI lab mentioned in the context of building infrastructure and being sued by The New York Times.
• Microsoft - A tech company mentioned in the context of being sued by The New York Times.
• Google - A tech company mentioned for Project Suncatcher, AI Studio, and Gemini models.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) - Cloud computing service, mentioned as a hyperscaler.
• Meta - A tech company mentioned in the context of building infrastructure.
• XAI - An AI company mentioned in the context of building infrastructure.
• Wilfrid Laurier University - The university where Mark Humphreys is a history professor.
• General Services Administration (GSA) - A US federal agency mentioned in the context of guidelines for AI procurement.

Courses & Educational Resources

• Generative History (Substack by Mark Humphreys) - A newsletter where Mark Humphreys writes about his experiments using AI in history research.
• Hyperdimensional (Substack by Dean Ball) - A newsletter by Dean Ball focusing on AI and policy.

Other Resources

• SB 53 (California Bill) - A transparency bill concerning AI models, supported by Dean Ball.