Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stepped back into the spotlight at Italian Tech Week in Turin, delivering his boldest prediction yet: millions of people will be living in space within the next couple of decades. The rare public appearance from the world's second-richest person sent ripples through the tech and space industries, especially as his timeline directly challenges rival Elon Musk's Mars colonization roadmap.
Jeff Bezos just threw down the gauntlet in the billionaire space race. The Amazon founder made a rare public appearance at Italian Tech Week in Turin on Friday, where he boldly predicted that millions of people will be living in space within the next couple of decades, according to Financial Times reporting.
Speaking alongside John Elkann, heir to Italy's powerful Agnelli dynasty, Bezos painted a picture of orbital communities where people choose space living 'mostly because they want to,' not out of necessity. His vision includes robots handling the heavy lifting while massive AI data centers float overhead, powering what could become humanity's first true space economy.
The timing feels deliberate. Elon Musk has spent years promising that one million people will colonize Mars by 2050 - a timeline that's increasingly looking aggressive as SpaceX focuses on Starship development. Bezos's 'couple of decades' prediction puts his Blue Origin company on a collision course with Musk's Mars ambitions, suggesting Earth's orbit might become the real battleground for space colonization.
But Bezos isn't just betting on space tourism. His comments hint at a fundamental shift in how we think about space habitation. While Musk focuses on Mars as humanity's backup planet, Bezos envisions space as a lifestyle choice - luxury orbital communities for those who can afford to escape Earth's gravity.
The Blue Origin founder has been relatively quiet since stepping down as Amazon CEO in 2021, focusing his energy on space ventures and his $10 billion Earth Fund climate initiative. His Turin appearance marks a return to the kind of bold predictions that once made him Amazon's visionary leader.
Bezos also defended the current AI investment frenzy, calling it a 'good' kind of bubble because it's 'industrial' rather than 'financial.' The distinction matters - industrial bubbles historically leave behind valuable infrastructure, while financial bubbles often collapse into nothing. His comments come as venture capital pours billions into AI startups, with many investors wondering if we're heading for another dot-com-style crash.
