Google prepares to send AI chips into orbit

Google is reportedly preparing to send a small batch of its AI chips into orbit  in the near future, putting data-centre hardware through its paces in the first real test in space. The prototype for Project Suncatcher is due to launch aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission, according to a blog by Travis Beals, Google’s senior director for Paradigms of Intelligence. Built by Planet Labs, the satellite carries the same type of tensor processing units (TPUs) Google uses in data centres on