Google has unveiled Project Suncatcher, an experimental plan to launch AI chips into space on solar-powered satellites to create orbiting data centers. The goal is to tap into continuous solar energy and reduce the massive electricity demands of Earth-based AI facilities.
The project envisions Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) operating in close satellite formations to enable ultra-fast data links, while surviving radiation for up to five years. Though still theoretical, Google plans a prototype mission with Planet in 2027, and estimates that by the mid-2030s, running AI data centers in space could cost about the same as on Earth.
Source: The Verge
