Google Put Four AI Chips in Orbit to Chase Sunlight With No Neighbors to Object. The Engineer Running It Says It Won't Be Cheaper Than Earth for at Least Five Years
About This Episode
On Thursday, October 1, a SpaceX Falcon 9 carried the first Project Suncatcher prototype into orbit: a refrigerator-sized satellite built with Planet carrying four of Google's TPU AI chips, which can run a Google model only 15 minutes at a time because of heat. NPR framed it as a move toward orbit, 'where there is virtually unlimited free energy and no protesters', while project lead Travis Beals told NPR he does not see it being cheaper than Earth in the next five years and that ground and space data centers will coexist for a long time. The same day NPR reported that residential customers are already paying a share of the AI buildout on the ground.
Our Take
Google went to orbit for sunlight nobody has to permit, but its own project lead says space won't be cheaper for at least five years, so the buildout, and the bill, stay on the ground with the neighbors who can still say no.
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