Google introduced two new tensor processing units, TPU 8tx and TPU 8i Max, expanding its eighth-generation chip lineup launched in April. TPU 8tx, co-designed with AMD, is built for confidential training and inference, embedding security at the hardware level to protect data and model weights during use. TPU 8i Max combines two TPU 8i inference chips into one package, doubling memory, processing power and bandwidth.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-11-10
Google announced TorchTPU, a version of the PyTorch framework built to run on its Tensor Processing Units, letting developers shift existing PyTorch-based AI apps to Google Cloud with a simple configuration change rather than a rewrite. The move follows Amazon's release a day earlier of TorchNeuron, its own PyTorch variant for AWS's Trainium chips, and Amazon's submission of code to decouple PyTorch features from Nvidia hardware.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-20
Google has released TorchTPU, an open-source project that lets PyTorch models run directly on its Tensor Processing Units. The package includes custom ATen kernels, a compilation cache for optimizing XLA computations, support for distributed training, and sample implementations for models like Llama, Qwen, ResNet and UNet. It is available via pip as version 0.2.0 or can be built from source using Bazel.
github.com
· 2026-10-20
Two ex-Groq employees have filed a class action lawsuit against the company's former board and CEO, claiming they transferred company technology and personnel to Nvidia as part of a $20 billion deal. The suit, filed in Delaware, questions the valuation and proceeds of the licensing agreement, which included a $17 billion fee and a $3 billion stock pool for engineers. Groq maintains that the deal provided significant value and is pursuing its own technology development independently.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-10-08
Google plans to launch a small experimental satellite called MVP next month aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The craft carries four of Google's TPU chips and solar panels producing about one kilowatt of power, and is meant to test whether AI processors can withstand radiation and heat exposure in orbit. Earlier ground tests exposed the chips to simulated years of space radiation, finding that restarts usually fixed resulting data errors.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-25
Google will launch its first Project Suncatcher test satellite, called MVP, on October 1 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of the Transporter-18 rideshare mission. The refrigerator-sized craft carries four of Google's custom TPU AI chips and roughly one kilowatt of solar power, and it uses a spacecraft body built by satellite imagery firm Planet Labs rather than a custom-built Google design. The test mission will run for only a few months.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-24
Google will send a satellite carrying its Tensor Processing Units into low Earth orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on October 1st, as part of Project Suncatcher. The mission aims to test how the chips withstand spaceflight stress, radiation, and thermal extremes, with a cooling system using heat pipes and radiators also being trialed. Google plans to launch two more satellites next year as part of a broader effort toward a constellation of chip-equipped satellites.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-24
VentureBeat's July VB Pulse survey of 170 AI infrastructure buyers found 39.4% plan to evaluate non-Nvidia accelerators like AWS Trainium, Google TPU, AMD Instinct or Intel Gaudi over the next year, versus 25.3% who plan to evaluate Nvidia's next-gen Blackwell GPUs. Despite this evaluation gap, the share of respondents expecting to switch platforms within three months actually dropped from 38.3% to 28.8%, even as usage and infrastructure activity rose across the board.
venturebeat.com
· 2026-09-02
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