Google Tests AI Data Center In Space
Longtime Slashdot reader Geoffrey.landis shares a report from NPR: Google just put a refrigerator-sized satellite into space, part of a research project the company hopes can pave the way for orbiting AI data centers powered by the sun. The prototype satellite has four specialty chips in it called Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, that Google designed for machine learning and has already deployed…
Google has launched a refrigerator-sized satellite into space, part of an innovative research project aimed at creating AI data centers orbiting Earth powered by the sun. The experimental satellite, carrying four specialized chips known as Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), will facilitate the running of Google's Gemma AI model for a 15-minute span at a stretch, due to heat management challenges.
The TPUs, originally deployed in Google's terrestrial data centers for machine learning tasks, will be subjected to the stress of spaceflight, radiation, and thermal extremes to evaluate their performance. The mission, launched on October 1 by a SpaceX rocket, serves as a minimal test to ascertain the viability of running TPUs in the unique environment of space.
Managed by Project Suncatcher, a team led by senior director Travis Beals, Google plans to operate the satellite for a year, with Planet responsible for its activation and functioning.
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