Google Tests AI Chips in Space with Experimental Satellite Launch

Google is set to launch an experimental satellite on October 1 to test its artificial intelligence (AI) chips in space as part of Project Suncatcher, a research program announced last year.

The mission will carry four tensor processing units (TPUs), Google's AI chips, aboard a SpaceX rocket. The satellite, called MVP, is designed to run limited AI workloads while engineers study how the chips perform in orbit.

Google has already conducted radiation tests at the University of California, Davis, which showed that the TPUs could withstand more radiation than expected over a five-year mission. However, an orbital test will reveal how they perform under actual space conditions.