Tech giant Alphabet said on Tuesday that its subsidiary Google has been in discussions with SpaceX and several other groups about possible future rocket launches.
Media reports mention that the newly embarked rocket launch is related to Project Suncatcher, which is a long-term initiative dedicated to developing orbital data centers for AI.
Project Suncatcher falls under Google’s broader initiative to reshape the future of AI infrastructure.
The idea revolves around creating a constellation of satellites powered by the sun with Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) developed by the tech company and linking them up into an orbital AI cloud that the company envisages.
The backing comes weeks after Elon Musk gave his support to the launch of Google’s next-generation TPU chip, with CEO Sundar Pichai agreeing with him.
Musk described Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) as “underrated” just days after the tech company unveiled its new AI chips.
What is Project Suncatcher?
Rather than depending only on large data centers located on Earth, the idea entails performing some of the AI computations via satellites that harness the energy of the sun directly for computation.
Google reportedly plans to deploy a prototype version by 2027, working together with Planet Labs.
While at the initial research stage, the idea indicates the urgent need to find ways to facilitate the ever-growing demand for computation from the tech companies.
The negotiations with SpaceX stand out especially due to the complicated relationship that Elon Musk has historically had with Google AI research.
In 2015, Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI partly because of his concern about the dominance of companies like Google in AI research.
Over time, Musk has been outspoken about his differences with Larry Page, a founder of Google, concerning AI safety and industry progress.
However, as time goes by, despite numerous controversies, the two corporations seem to be approaching the same aim in terms of the ongoing race for AI infrastructure development. The partnership of Google and SpaceX may showcase the fact that rivalry in AI technology is increasingly connected with the commercial space business.
Moreover, AI infrastructure at orbital level is important for SpaceX’s future activities. Space-based data centers are considered among one of the long-term project concepts that shape the future plans and, perhaps, the plans regarding the IPO of the company.
Building an infrastructure in orbit would take substantial resources, including capital, satellites, rocket launches, as well as innovative cooling, power distribution, and network solutions for space conditions.
Although the concept is extremely hypothetical at the current stage, its advocates believe that orbital AI infrastructures might become the solution to some problems related to building such infrastructures on the Earth in the long run.
Firstly, today’s AI infrastructure requires considerable amounts of electrical power, which forces companies to create increasingly large centers located near energy supply sources.
Orbital stations supplied by continuous solar energy might help to solve this problem, but a lot of technical issues are yet to be addressed.
Google’s actions in tandem with larger industry
The idea is also starting to gain traction within the entire AI industry. In fact, just last week, Anthropic announced its plans to harness the full computational power of the Colossus 1 facility by SpaceX in Memphis.
The company allegedly stated its willingness to cooperate with SpaceX to develop the future orbital data centers that will be able to provide multiple gigawatts worth of AI computing capabilities. These two trends indicate the changing way big tech is planning for the future AI infrastructure.
As AI becomes increasingly sophisticated, firms are beginning to experiment with out-of-the-box solutions to AI hardware, including cloud computing, renewables, satellites, and commercial space technology.
Although the Project Suncatcher is still several years away from implementation, the dialogue between Google and SpaceX proves that the idea of AI in outer space is getting closer to reality.
