Thread

Google's first Suncatcher orbital data center test launches October 1

52 points · 96 comments · sbulaev

logancbrown · 1790368439 · focus · HN ↗
Genuine question: why are there so many people up-in-arms on orbital data centers? Like they have a personally vested interest in ensuring their opinions on failure are correct? There are many people on HN that despise it and say it will not and will never work, but here we are, they are flying them up to space and presumably, will start working soon.
1. jldugger · 1790369628 · focus · HN ↗
  The hardest thing about AI datacenters is power. The second hardest thing is cooling. All of these are physical challenges and exponentially harder in space.
  So why do it? Because datacenter regulations on earth are becoming a referendum by proxy on AI. "Texas has no jurisdiction in low earth orbit!" is the general idea. Critics point out that this is a transparent move to moot the argument over AI, and that it doesn't even work in principle, due to above mentioned physics.

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.