Google Satellite Sends First AI Model Response From Orbit

An experimental Google satellite has received an AI response from space for the first time. The satellite is part of Google's Suncatcher project, which aims to test whether AI data centers can be placed in space. A Trillium chip (Google's own AI chip) ran Google's open model Gemma 4 and wrote a haiku about space. A ground station in Svalbard, Norway received it. Google plans to keep testing the chip, including under the extreme temperatures and radiation found in orbit. The company also hopes to launch two satellites with laser links in 2027.

This tells us nothing about intelligence. It just shows that the chip and the model work fine after launch and exposure to radiation. But what does it mean for the future of computing? Will we one day see data centers in space, once Earth runs out of room and power? For now this will not affect people working with AI day to day. It's more of a long-term bet by Google, which hopes to link two satellites by laser by 2027.