REUTERS/Jason LeeBEIJING, Jan 29 (Reuters) – China plans to launch space‑based artificial intelligence data centers over the next five years, state media reported on Thursday, a challenge to Elon Musk’s plan to deploy SpaceX data centres to the heavens. U.S. firm SpaceX expects to use funds from its planned $25 billion blockbuster IPO this year to develop orbital AI data centers in response to terrestrial energy constraints. SpaceX plans to launch solar‑powered AI data center satellites within the next two to three years, Musk said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week. The new institution signals China’s ambitions to strategically transition from near-Earth orbit operations to deep space exploration. Original innovation in basic research and technological breakthroughs will reshape the pattern of deep space exploration,” Xinhua wrote on the inauguration.