Episode Details

On Thursday, October 1, a SpaceX Falcon 9 carried the first Project Suncatcher prototype into orbit: a refrigerator-sized satellite built with Planet carrying four of Google's TPU AI chips, which can run a Google model only 15 minutes at a time because of heat. NPR framed it as a move toward orbit, 'where there is virtually unlimited free energy and no protesters', while project lead Travis Beals told NPR he does not see it being cheaper than Earth in the next five years and that ground and space data centers will coexist for a long time. The same day NPR reported that residential customers are already paying a share of the AI buildout on the ground.

Continue the story on unscarcity.ai:

• GPT-4 Training: 50,000 MWh and the AI Energy Crisis
• Data Center Moratoriums: Who Vetoes the AI Buildout?

Full episode notes on unscarcity.ai