Google plans first test of AI chips in space under Project Suncatcher

Alphabet’s Google said on Thursday it will launch a prototype satellite next week in its first in-orbit test of Project Suncatcher, a research effort to explore whether space could potentially host large-scale AI computing infrastructure.

Companies including SpaceX and Starcloud are pursuing plans to deploy data centers in low Earth orbit, aiming to harness near-continuous sunlight to power energy-intensive AI computing and sidestep terrestrial constraints on electricity supplies.