Europe and UAE plan $1 billion orbital data center with 50 connected "computers" and a central "LLM store" that allows users to select what open source model to use on data collected by satellite sensors (www.techradar.com)

France and the UAE have announced a groundbreaking $1 billion initiative to expand the Altair AI Earth observation constellation from ten to fifty satellites, backed by Marlan Space and Loft Orbital. This ambitious program aims to create an orbital data center where the satellites will utilize onboard AI models from French company Mistral AI to process data in real-time, significantly reducing the time it takes to alert users to actionable insights from satellite imagery. The satellites will be equipped with advanced radar, optical, and various sensors, enabling them to analyze and interpret data before transmitting it down to Earth. This project is particularly significant for the AI and machine learning community as it introduces a centralized AI application store, allowing users to select and execute different open-source language models on the satellite-collected data. By providing a shared computational resource in orbit, this initiative could democratize access to advanced AI capabilities for a wide range of applications. Moreover, with the rise of European AI providers like Mistral, the program positions Europe to compete with US and Chinese AI advancements, especially amid calls for regulatory caution in the US regarding AI development.