Google's AI ambitions are closer to the stars
Google has successfully run an AI model on a satellite in orbit and received its first response back on Earth, marking a milestone in its plans to explore AI data centres in space.
The test is part of Project Suncatcher, Google's experimental initiative to see whether AI computing could eventually operate beyond Earth.
After launching its prototype satellite earlier in October, Google activated its onboard Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), chips designed to run AI models.
In brief:
Google will test how its chips perform under extreme temperature changes and radiation exposure.
Project Suncatcher is exploring the possibility of running AI computing systems in space.
Google aims to launch two interconnected satellites to test how they work together in orbit.
The aliens didn't sign up for this
Using Google's Gemma 4 model, the satellite generated a three-line haiku about space and sent it back to Earth.
Researchers also tested other poetry prompts and requests involving satellite data.
The successful test confirms that Google's AI chips can run a model and process commands in orbit, although more testing is needed before the technology can support larger workloads.
Bro travelled to orbit to become a Tumblr poet. -MG