Amazon founder Jeff Bezos predicts millions will live in space within the next two decades, according to the Financial Times. The billionaire made a rare public appearance at the Italian Tech Week in Turin on Friday, where he shared his bold vision for humanity’s future beyond Earth.
Speaking alongside John Elkann, heir to Italy’s Agnelli family, Bezos said that people will one day live in space because they choose to, not because they have to. He explained that robots will handle manual labor while giant AI-powered data centers will operate in orbit to support human life and interplanetary industries.
Bezos’ remarks came in response to his long-time space rival, Elon Musk, who has also predicted large-scale space settlements. Musk envisions one million people living on Mars by 2050, while Bezos imagines vast orbital habitats as a more practical form of colonization.
Defending the rapid rise in artificial intelligence, Bezos called the current AI investment wave a “positive bubble,” describing it as “industrial” rather than “financial.” He emphasized that this boom would accelerate innovation across multiple sectors, including space exploration.
“There has never been a better time to be excited about the future,” Bezos concluded, leaving the audience in Turin contemplating his ambitious forecast. Whether millions will live in space by 2045 remains to be seen, but Bezos’ optimism suggests that AI and robotics could make that vision achievable sooner than expected.