Tech giants explore space data centers as Al demands surge

Major technology leaders are openly discussing the possibility of launching data centers into orbit, a concept that sounds like science fiction but reflects the industry's mounting concerns about meeting surging computational demands and energy constraints on Earth.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged this week on the company's podcast that space-based data centers seem "crazy" today, but "when you truly step back and envision the amount of compute we're going to need, it starts making sense and it's a matter of time". His comments reference Project Suncatcher, which Google announced in early November with plans to launch two prototype satellites equipped with Tensor Processing Units by early 2027 in partnership with Planet Labs.