Google wants to run AI from space, and its fridge-sized satellite just reached orbit

Google has launched its AI chips into space for the first time under Project Suncatcher. A refrigerator-sized Planet Labs satellite carrying four Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) flew aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 to test whether AI data centres can run in orbit on solar power. The chips will run Google’s Gemma AI model in 15-minute bursts, but the company says space-based data centres are at least five years from being cost-effective.