Google is exploring a deal with SpaceX to launch chips into orbit for space-based data centers, which is bullish for both companies but still a long-shot bet on unproven technology.

• Google already owns 6.1% of SpaceX and wants to use it to launch its own TPU chips into space under a project called Suncatcher, with a 2027 prototype planned.
• The pitch for space data centers is constant solar power and no need for batteries, but cooling the chips and protecting them from cosmic radiation are huge unsolved problems.
• SpaceX needs launch costs to drop under $200 per kilo to make space data centers viable; current costs are $250 to $600 per kilo, so the tech is not ready yet.
• To fund the space push, SpaceX just signed a deal with Anthropic for 300 megawatts of computing capacity, a sign Anthropic is pulling ahead of ChatGPT and Grok in enterprise AI.
• Google is also cutting its enterprise AI pricing sharply and adding buy-now-pay-later through Affirm, which hints its pricing power is weakening against Anthropic.

Outlook: Google looks like the safer bet with upside from Gemini, ads, and its SpaceX stake, while space data centers remain a long-term gamble that depends on SpaceX cutting launch costs much further.