Google's Project Suncatcher satellite sends its first AI response from orbit
After a few weeks of commissioning, Google's Project Suncatcher prototype satellite, launched October 1, ran the Gemma 4 open model on board and sent back a space haiku in response to a ground prompt, the first AI response from a data-center-class TPU in orbit. Next come tests of how the chips hold up under heat and radiation, with two interconnected satellites planned for 2027. My take: data centers in space are still a long way off, but big tech is already hunting for a way around power shortages. For the rest of us, the point is that the ceiling on AI computing keeps rising, so don't treat today's limits as permanent.