- UF engineers are sending photonic semiconductor chips to the International Space Station to test performance in harsh space conditions.
- The experiments are part of research to ease AI’s rapidly growing energy demands and find better places for data centers.
- With AI data centers consuming massive amounts of electricity, researchers believe space could offer an energy-efficient alternative.
- You can watch the launch of SpaceX CRS-34 Mission here.
The breathless growth of artificial intelligence is straining energy grids. Some technology experts even forecast an “AI Winter” if energy demands exceed supply.
As scientists and tech firms scramble to find ways to power the AI revolution, one engineering researcher from the University of Florida is among the those looking up for a viable solution.
Way up.
“The sky is not the limit. Space is the limit,” said Volker Sorger, UF’s Walden and Paula Rhines Endowed Professor in Semiconductor Photonics in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
As the deputy director for Strategic Initiatives of UF’s Florida Semiconductor Institute (FSI) — as well as a 2009 European Space Agency astronaut finalist — Sorger contends the empty chill and ample real estate of space may make the best venue for energy-hungry, high-temperature data centers to power AI.
In fact, in a partnership with NASA, he and his team sent a second batch of photonic semiconductor chips to the International Space Station, or ISS, for more tests on how they perform in space. As of this writing, the SpaceX launch is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13 at 6: 50 p.m. from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.