Elon Musk’s latest AI energy claim has pushed computing power back into focus. He said AI could exceed human intelligence by using 0.0001% of the Sun’s power. However, Bitcoin mining is again being assessed as flexible electricity demand.
In a post on X, Musk said harnessing one-millionth of the Sun’s power for AI would create intelligence far beyond humanity’s combined level. The Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI chief tied that scale to energy infrastructure outside Earth.
He said solar panels and radiators could be manufactured on the Moon. The equipment could then be launched into deep space through mass drivers. A mass driver is an electromagnetic system designed to move material without conventional rockets.
Musk argued that conventional money may become less important in such a future. In his view, mass and energy could replace dollars as deeper measures of economic value.
However, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said global data center electricity demand reached about 485 terawatt-hours in 2025. That figure covers total data centers, not AI alone.
The agency also said electricity use from AI-focused data centers rose 50% in 2025. This makes AI a major driver of future power demand, even though it does not account for the full data center total.
Bitcoin mining has faced energy criticism for years. Digiconomist estimates Bitcoin’s annual electricity use at about 204 TWh.
However, critics argue that proof-of-work uses large amounts of electricity to secure a digital monetary network. Mining could also increase emissions when fossil fuel generation supplies extra power.
Bitcoin supporters present another view. Mining machines could reduce output faster than many industrial users. This makes Bitcoin mining more interruptible than most high-uptime data center workloads.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});That flexibility may support power markets in specific conditions. Miners could respond to high electricity prices, grid stress, or demand-response signals. The benefit depends on contracts, regulation, and local grid design.
Mining could also operate near stranded or curtailed energy. In areas with unused solar, wind, hydro, or flared gas, operators could convert surplus power into revenue. The claim depends on the actual energy source and market structure.
Waste heat reuse adds another possible use case. Research has found that heat from mining hardware could support greenhouses, buildings, or other facilities. The economics depend on electricity prices, heating demand, and Bitcoin market conditions.
AI data centers have a different power profile. They usually require stable electricity, high uptime, dense cooling, and costly hardware. Training and inference workloads are harder to pause without affecting service or performance.
Bitcoin mining is more flexible, but its grid value is not automatic. Recent research shows miners respond to power costs. That response may weaken when mining revenue is high.
Musk did not directly compare AI with Bitcoin. However, his comments sharpen the wider debate over energy-intensive computing. As solar capacity expands, power users may face closer judgment based on flexibility, emissions, and grid value.
Related: What the $SPCX Surge Means for Bitcoin and Crypto
