Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins wants data centers in space

Today, I’m talking with Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins wants data centers in space

The head of the networking giant on energy, infrastructure, and why AI is writing Cisco code.

Cisco is one of those big companies that everyone has heard of but that most of us don’t have to interact with very much; it’s not really a consumer brand. But all of us are in some way using Cisco’s products and services every day because it makes a huge amount of networking equipment for other big companies, like telecoms and ISPs. It’s a guarantee that somewhere between me recording this and you watching, listening to, or reading it, the bits have passed through Cisco products. Without the actual routers and switches and silicon — and the software to make those things work — there’s no internet, there’s no cloud, and there’s no AI.

That’s Cisco’s new big business, of course: building all the networking needed inside all of the data centers the AI companies are trying to build. Chuck and I spent a lot of time discussing that. First, where should we build all these data centers? Because it’s not clear that anyone wants them around.

A data center is a really unpleasant neighbor to have: It’s loud, it’s ugly, and it uses a ton of electricity, making rates for regular people go up. AI itself is polling pretty badly with Americans, and there’s now fairly robust, bipartisan opposition to new data center builds all over the country. So I had to start by asking Chuck what feels, strangely, like one of the most urgent questions of the moment: Should we build data centers in space?

Elon Musk sure seems to think the answer is yes, and he’s pushing SpaceX that way. Sam Altman — along with a whole bunch of experts who understand how cooling and radiation work in orbit — thinks we’re not there yet. So I had to ask Chuck which way he’s leaning, and I was a little surprised how quickly and emphatically he answered.

You’ll also hear me ask very directly whether Chuck thinks AI is a bubble, and you’ll hear him say very directly that he thinks it is. And he would know: During the dot-com bubble, Cisco — the internet builder — was very briefly the most valuable company in the world.

Beyond the AI of it, I love bringing big companies that are kind of hidden in plain sight onto Decoder, and Cisco is a perfect example. Chuck has made some big bets around chip investments to position Cisco on what he calls the leading edge — but not bleeding edge — that are really fascinating when you think about the kind of infrastructure he sells to companies all over the world.

Those companies are dealing with an increasingly fractured global landscape, and asking big questions about data. Who owns data? Where can it be stored? Should the internet have a kill switch in different countries? They’re important questions, but they also don’t have easy answers, and you’ll hear Chuck really delve into how complicated it is keeping the world connected in the deeply weird realities of 2026.