"This is going to be a real game changer in terms of implementing artificial intelligence in operational space," Costas said in a podcast on Wednesday.
China has spent $14.7 billion on AI this year and that figure is projected to almost double to $26 billion by 2026, Costas said.
"The People's Liberation Army (PLA) argues the need for AI to support and protect China's space assets ...In April they allowed AI to take over one of the cameras on a satellite ... It looked at an area between Japan and China where there were (US) aircraft carriers and between India and China where there had been border skirmishes," Costas said.
China has in recent years put more than 700 satellites into space, by April this year of which more than 160 were intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance satellites, Costas added.