Life processes require several cradles.
1) One is the cell (wall) itself.
For that to form in any freestanding way some kind of relativity chemically neutral fluid of some reasonable density is needed to support that (generally flimsy) structure.
A uniform stable physical context.
Water stabilizes ionic molecules,
avoiding immediate reactions,
making it a (2) chemical cradle.
Pressure is a driver of life sustaining chemical reactions, especially in a reliable ongoing basis.
Water's polarity helps with this,
but some kind of gravity well goes much further.
On the surface of Earth we are in the containment vessel of gravity and the planet's crust.
In a way i think my distinction between amorphous AI and robot based AI,
may apply.
Without any contextual structural physical foundations there is no bias to favor any form/formation whatsoever.
No real defining characteristics.
No frame of reference.
3) A cradle of definition is needed imo.
A distinct magnetic field might work.
Life is a filtering of forms, operations that are appropriate for a given context.
An amorphous cloud has virtually no bias upon which to filter much of anything.
If life got to a stellar cloud it might figure something out,
but actually evolving from an amorphous cloud,
i find lacks credibility.