“Google” prepares to test its AI chips in space

CALIFORNIA, September 25 /ATSH-DPA/ — “Google” will send a prototype satellite into space to test how the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) chips perform under space conditions.

“Google” said the satellite will be placed in low Earth orbit, where it can have almost continuous access to sunlight.

According to the company, this could enable the production of up to eight times more solar energy than on Earth.

In the future, “Google” aims to explore the possibility of linking many satellites, which together could carry out larger artificial intelligence tasks while in orbit.

For the test, “Google” will send next week its special chips for AI processing, called Tensor Processing Units (TPU), on a SpaceX “Falcon 9” rocket.

The company will check whether these chips can withstand shocks and physical loads during flight, as well as radiation and very large temperature changes in space.

“Google” said this first test will serve to see what works, what the problems are and what needs to be improved for future missions.

Another challenge is cooling data centers in orbit.

Chips that perform many calculations produce a lot of heat, so a way is needed to cool them in space.

“Google” must also ensure that satellites can exchange very large amounts of data at high speed.

The company stressed that the use of space as a place to carry out large-scale artificial intelligence computations will not happen immediately.

First it must be proven that the equipment can function safely and stably in orbit.