GoKawiil
Tech News
Google Cloud announced two new TPU systems designed around existing TPU chips, reconfiguring compute, networking, storage and packaging rather than introducing new silicon. The company says the systems respond to customer requests for accelerators that handle large context windows and for specialized encryption features demanded by regulated industries, alongside recent PyTorch support updates.
Google and Meta jointly released a PyTorch-native version of the SGLang inference engine, called TorchTPU, letting Google's tensor processing units serve AI workloads without requiring a switch to Google's JAX framework. Meta's PyTorch-TPU lead Zongwei Zhou said the engine is already running in production at Meta, built with help from RadixArk, the startup founded by SGLang's creators. A matching PyTorch-native version of the vLLM inference engine was also released as open source.
Google has launched a prototype satellite for its Project Suncatcher initiative, built with partner Planet, aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission. The company confirmed contact with the satellite and says it is functioning normally. A peer-reviewed paper detailing the underlying research has been published in the journal Joule.
Alphabet is sending its tensor processing units to space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-18 mission launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The flight carries Planet Labs satellites, including a solar-powered prototype fitted with Google's AI chips, marking the first in-orbit test of Google's Project Suncatcher initiative first announced in November 2025.
Google plans to launch an experimental satellite called MVP on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base next week, part of its Project Suncatcher initiative. The satellite carries four Tensor Processing Units powered by solar panels generating one kilowatt, roughly matching a single Earth-based server, and is designed to process simple AI requests for up to a year while orbiting for as long as six years before burning up on re-entry.
Android Authority surveyed over 2,000 readers asking whether they would pay to unlock newer AI features on their older Pixel phones. More than 82% called such a purchase a waste of money, while roughly 10% said they'd rather buy a new phone outright, and just 6.8% would pay a subscription to extend their current device's life.