The refrigerator-sized experimental satellite is powered by solar energy and is equipped with four AI chips, with a combined capacity equivalent to a single server in a data centre. The purpose is to test the hardware in space and the special conditions that prevail there. The satellite will perform simple AI calculations and is expected to operate for a year.
The experiment is a first step in an effort to place larger solar-powered data centres in space in the future.
"To be completely honest, we don't expect to have anything useful and operational within the next few years," says James Manyika, who heads Google's research department, about the venture.
