The global race to deploy data centres in space to power artificial intelligence (AI) development has begun, with China seizing an early lead.
“In terms of the highest performance of space-based computing or the completeness of [the] technological framework, we are at the forefront,” Beijing-based computer scientist Han Yinhe said.
Han is a researcher at the Institute of Computing Technology (ICT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and is taking part in a major initiative to develop a real “space supercomputer” in low-Earth orbit that will integrate 10,000 high-performance computing cards.
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But the United States is now rushing to catch up with much more money and launch capabilities.
Tech billionaires in Silicon Valley, including Elon Musk and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, have been drawing up plans to move AI infrastructure into space.
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On Monday, Musk wrote on social media that he was envisioning plans to launch a million tonnes of satellites into space annually, with the aim of deploying 100 gigawatts of AI computing power in orbit each year. Last month, he confirmed that SpaceX planned to build orbital data centres by scaling up its next-generation Starlink V3 satellites.
Just days earlier, Pichai announced that Google planned to launch space-based data centres as early as 2027.