31 Oct 2026

Project Suncatcher: Google's TPU in orbit sends its first AI reply

Google says its Project Suncatcher prototype satellite (launched Oct 1, 2026, carrying four TPUs) returned the first-ever AI response from a data-center-class TPU in orbit: the onboard Gemma 4 model wrote a haiku about being in space, downlinked as the satellite passed by Svalbard, Norway. Next come thermal-stress and radiation tests, paving the way for twin interconnected satellites in 2027, part of a long-term moonshot to explore powering AI compute in space.