Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is planning to harvest solar energy from space to power its artificial intelligence data centres on Earth.
The Facebook and Instagram owner has signed a deal with US start-up Overview Energy to source up to one gigawatt of solar energy, the equivalent of powering 750,000 homes.
Meta has partnered with Overview as it prepares to launch a fleet of up to 1,000 satellites to collect the sun’s rays using solar panels in space.
This power will then be converted into low-intensity infrared beams, which can be directed at photovoltaic panels on Earth and converted into energy.
Solar power can be collected far more efficiently in space as the sun’s rays are not weakened by Earth’s atmosphere, nor are they affected by air pollution or cloud cover.
Satellites can also be positioned in orbits where they experience almost 24 hours of direct sunlight.
From space, they can transmit this power to areas currently in darkness, increasing the efficiency of existing solar farms.
The technology provides a boost to Silicon Valley giants as they construct vast AI data centres across the West.
Solar power from space could represent a constant source of clean power for tech companies, which have been at risk of breaching their environmental commitments by pursuing AI.
It will also allow them to avoid relying on strained local power networks.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Google have also been working to develop data centre satellites powered by solar energy from space.
The satellites would use solar energy to power AI systems that have been launched into orbit before transmitting streams of data down to Earth.
However, Meta’s system would instead beam down solar energy to power data sites on the ground.
Marc Berte, the chief executive of Overview Energy, said: “Space is becoming part of America’s energy infrastructure.
“Our approach to space solar energy enables hyperscalers and technology providers to secure clean power with reliable siting and speed to power.”
Overview Energy is planning to launch a demonstration satellite in 2028 before beginning commercial power generation for Meta from 2030.
Nat Sahlstrom, the vice president of energy at Meta, said: “Space solar technology represents a transformative step forward by leveraging existing terrestrial infrastructure to deliver new, uninterrupted energy from orbit.”
Separately on Monday, regulators in Beijing confirmed they had ordered Meta to unwind a $2bn (£1.5bn) takeover of Manus, a Singaporean AI start-up business originally founded in China.
Manus had been working on developing autonomous AI assistants or agents. Meta announced it was buying Manus in December, just months after it launched its first bots.
Officials in China have grown increasingly wary of home-grown AI technology being scooped up by US giants. Regulators have also ordered AI companies to stop accepting US venture funding without explicit approval, Bloomberg reported last week.
AI labs in China have been scrambling to keep up with Silicon Valley businesses such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which have given the US an edge in the AI race.