# Compute Flows Like an Incompressible Fluid Toward Orbit by Alexander Wissner-Gross > "At some point, election cycles make it very difficult to invest trillions of dollars of CapEx in the greatest infrastructure build-out in arguably centuries, maybe that humanity has ever seen. The obvious solution is to go up—to build in space, where, under the Outer Space Treaty and the Artemis Accords, there is a lighter touch that is less prone to two-year election cycles. ... There are lots of other places, as almost an incompressible fluid, that the flops can flow. But ultimately, it certainly is looking like the flops mostly will want to flow upward to orbit." > **— Alexander Wissner-Gross**, *Moonshots #309, recorded November 6, 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Source dossier:** [[research/Midterms, Politics, AI, and Infrastructure Research - Moonshots|Midterms, Politics, AI, and Infrastructure Research — Moonshots]]. - **Direct publication or recording:** [recording, 00:22:25–00:23:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF-ADiC7Khs&t=1345s). - **Editorial form:** The readable quotation retains visible brackets and/or an ellipsis for source-supported clarification or omission. The candidate map below records the exact treatment. - **Context and treatment:** Alexander Wissner-Gross names election-cycle instability as the pressure, orbital infrastructure as the domain, and regulatory durability as the reason compute may move upward; [recording, 00:22:25–00:23:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF-ADiC7Khs&t=1345s). Direct continuous turn; the ellipsis omits intervening examples without changing the forecast or its uncertainty. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/The Politics of AI Infrastructure|The Politics of AI Infrastructure]] - **Collection:** [[collections/American Infrastructure|American Infrastructure]] - **Collection:** [[collections/American|American Culture Collection]] - **Article:** [[articles/Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen|Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Gigawatt Is the New Measure of War|The Gigawatt Is the New Measure of War]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Political Party That Inherits Super Intelligence in 2028|The Political Party That Inherits Super Intelligence in 2028]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Alexander Wissner-Gross|Alexander Wissner-Gross]] - [[wiki/AI Infrastructure|AI Infrastructure]] - [[wiki/Moonshots 309|Moonshots 309]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "At some point, election cycles make it very difficult to invest trillions of dollars of CapEx in the greatest infrastructure build-out in arguably centuries, maybe that humanity has ever seen. The obvious solution is to go up—to build in space, where, under the Outer Space Treaty and the Artemis Accords, there is a lighter touch that is less prone to two-year election cycles. ... There are lots of other places, as almost an incompressible fluid, that the flops can flow. But ultimately, it certainly is looking like the flops mostly will want to flow upward to orbit." — Alexander Wissner-Gross, Moonshots #309, recorded November 6, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-alexander-wissner-gross-compute-flows-like-an-incompressible-fluid-toward-orbit ```