TURIN, ITALY:
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has made a sweeping prediction, asserting that millions of people will be living in space within the next two decades, according to the Financial Times. The statement was delivered during a rare public appearance at Italian Tech Week in Turin on Friday.
Speaking with John Elkann, heir to Italy’s powerful Agnelli family, Bezos outlined a future where space habitation is largely a matter of choice. He specified that robots would handle manual labour, allowing humans to live comfortable lives while large AI data centres operate above.
The comment is viewed by many as a direct counterpoint to Bezos’s well-known space rival, Elon Musk, who has aggressively pushed the narrative of colonizing Mars, suggesting the planet could house a million residents by 2050. The bold optimism of both billionaires raises questions about whether their predictions are driven by technological insight or entrepreneurial enthusiasm.
Beyond space, Bezos also weighed in on the massive surge in artificial intelligence investment, defending it as a “positive bubble”. He described the current wave of investment as “industrial” rather than “financial,” suggesting the capital is funding real, tangible technological advancement rather than speculative market hype.
Bezos concluded his address with a tone of fervent technological optimism, stating: “There has never been a better time to be excited about the future.” The remark likely prompted uncertain glances among the audience in the Turin auditorium, grappling with the sheer scale of the vision being presented.
