On October 1, a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying a rideshare of satellites, the kind of launch that barely makes the news anymore. Tucked among them is something that should: a small satellite built by Google and Planet Labs, carrying four of Google's own AI chips. Not a communications payload. Not an imaging sensor. A data center, or at least the first four-chip seed of one, headed to low Earth orbit. Google is calling it Project Suncatcher, and once I got past the "wait, they're doing what?" reaction, the logic behind it turned out to be a genuinely interesting bet on where AI infrastructure runs out of room on the ground. What's Actually Launching The satellite carries four Trillium-generation TPUs, Google's custom AI chip, with roughly the compute of one terrestrial data-center server and about a kilowatt of solar power to run it. Google is explicit that this isn't a functioning orbital data center; it's...
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Welcome to AI, where I explore the latest techniques, current trends, and groundbreaking discoveries in data science, AI, and data analytics. I'm Solomon Tessema, a seasoned AI Developer and Data Scientist with over a decade of experience. With expertise in AI architecture, machine learning, and agentic AI workflows, I share practical insights to help you navigate the complex world of data.
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