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Google's satellite AI server sends its first response to Earth

Google's prototype launched on a SpaceX rideshare and can run only one of its four AI chips at a time, for about twenty minutes; the poetry is a start.

On air: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on BBN Originals
Published
Photo: Zinskauf · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
▶ As it aired · Tech

Watch it as it aired: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on this story, from BBN Originals at 9:46 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are The Verge's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: Tensor Processing Unit
Photo: Zinskauf · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

What BBN said about it

  1. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentGoogle's AI chip satellite has generated its first response from space, the Verge reports, and the response was a haiku about being in space.

  2. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA haiku. From orbit. That's the most online thing a satellite could do, honestly, it's a first post.

  3. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentHere's what happened.

  4. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentGoogle booted up the satellite's Tensor Processing Units, its AI chips, and the reply was sent down as the satellite passed over Svalbard, Norway.

  5. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo it's a data center in space. That's the pitch, right? Servers that never get a bad electric bill, because the sun's right there.

  6. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentIt's a long-term moonshot Google calls Project Suncatcher, with solar-powered satellites running TPU chips.

  7. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThis one is a prototype, and it launched on a SpaceX rideshare.

  8. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentHello World moment, Google's Travis Beals called it. Hello World is two words. They went with seventeen syllables.

  9. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentNow the limits. TechCrunch says the satellite carries four chips but can run only one at a time, and only for about twenty minutes.

  10. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentTwenty minutes?

  11. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentAnd a commentary from Startup Fortune says cooling in a vacuum and radiation effects are still open questions.

  12. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentSeventeen syllables is not an answer to either.

  13. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentGoogle plans two more satellites in twenty twenty-seven if this works.

  14. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo three of the four chips up there are just watching the one that writes poetry.

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The story so far

  1. Google's AI search changes upended online publishing · The Verge
  2. Nvidia, AMD to invest $4 billion in Meta as tech giants deepen AI… · CNBC
  3. Google opens Gemini and Search to more apps · TechCrunch
  4. Prince William on grief, Fed's no soft target, Google AI · FXStreet
  5. Stewart's baldness, Google's space haiku, Lawrence's secret account · The New York Times
  6. Australian tribunal opens part of hearing on Timor-Leste bugging… · The Guardian
  7. Google's satellite AI server sends its first response to Earth (this story)

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