Nvidia’s AI ambitions are officially out of this world this year, and they haven’t come back down to Earth.
The AI chip giant is adding to the team behind Space-1, its first computing system designed for space. In recent weeks, the chip giant posted a second job tied to orbital data centers.
The role — for a system software principal architect — will help build software for Space-1, which the chip giant unveiled at its GTC event in March.
Space data centers have emerged as a potential way to get around growing constraints on land, power, and cooling on Earth. Companies like SpaceX are racing to make the idea a reality, while skeptics argue the costs still outweigh the benefits.
During a recent earnings call, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the economics around space computing are poor today but will improve over time.
The principal architect job post follows another role shared earlier this year for an orbital data center system architect. While that position focuses on designing the overall system — from computing hardware to satellites to connectivity systems — the new post focuses on making Space-1’s software work in practice.
The person hired will design the software that runs the system so it can withstand radiation and extreme temperature swings and be managed remotely.
Space-1 harnesses Nvidia’s latest Vera Rubin AI chip platform and is designed for low-Earth orbit missions.
The system software role requires previous experience building AI infrastructure and systems in space. It offers a base salary of $272,000 to $431,250, which doesn’t include Nvidia’s coveted equity awards.
While the technology is still in its early stages, Nvidia’s latest job postings suggest the chipmaker is moving from conceptual planning to building the systems needed to make it work.
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