Nvidia chief Jensen Huang on Monday said the leading artificial intelligence chip maker is heading for space with a goal of powering orbiting data centers.
An Nvidia graphics processing unit (GPU) was launched into space late last year by startup Starcloud in what was touted as an off-planet debut for the technology, but now Nvidia is creating a module intended as a building block for data centers there.
"We're working with our partners on a new computer called Vera Rubin Space One," Huang said as he kicked off the GPU-maker's annual developers conference in Silicon Valley.
"It's going to go out to space and start data centers."
Partners in the project include Starcloud, which is planning a November satellite launch that will mark the "cosmic debut" of the new Nvidia module.
A Starcloud-1 satellite, about the size of a small refrigerator, is expected to be packed with 100 times more computing power than any previous space-based operation.
"In 10 years, nearly all new data centers will be being built in outer space," predicted Starcloud co-founder and chief Philip Johnston.
The startup explained that it plans to power Google AI with the Nvidia GPUs to show that large language models can run in outer space.
Nvidia described the Vera Rubin module as being optimized for AI, enabling real-time sensing, decision making, and autonomous functioning.
"Space computing, the final frontier, has arrived," Huang said.
"With our partners, we're extending Nvidia beyond our planet - boldly taking intelligence where it's never gone before."
Tech firms are floating the idea of building data centers in space and tapping into the sun's energy to meet out-of-this-world power demands in a fierce artificial intelligence race.
More than a dozen startups, aerospace leaders, and major tech firms are involved in the development, testing, or planning of space-based data centers.
The big draw of space for data centers is power supply, with the option of synchronizing satellites to the sun's orbit to ensure constant light beaming onto solar panels.
Building in space also avoids the challenges of acquiring land and meeting local regulations or community resistance to projects.
Critical technical aspects of such operations need to be resolved, however, particularly damage to the orbiting data centers from high levels of radiation and extreme temperatures, and the danger of them being hit by space junk.
