Starcloud Nets $170M for Orbital Data Centers as Google Expands Gemini Reach
Starcloud secured $170M at a $1.1B valuation to build solar-powered orbital data centers with Google training its LLM and running Gemini modules in low Earth orbit. Apple adopted Google's Gemini for Siri on 2.5B devices, while AI workload competition with AWS could boost Google Cloud's market share.
1. Starcloud Partnership
Starcloud secured $170 million at a $1.1 billion valuation to deploy solar-powered data centers in low Earth orbit. Google engineers trained Starcloud’s custom LLM and will host Gemini inference modules roughly 200 miles above Earth to leverage uninterrupted solar energy and ease terrestrial power constraints.
2. Siri Integration of Gemini
Apple integrated Google’s Gemini model into Siri across its 2.5 billion active devices, opting to license rather than develop an in-house large language model. This shift reduces Apple’s AI infrastructure spend and accelerates feature rollout to its global user base.
3. AI Cloud Competition Outlook
Google Cloud is intensifying its pursuit of AI workload share as AWS delivered $35.6 billion in Q4 2025 revenue with 24% growth. Potential AWS deceleration to 15% growth highlights an opening for Google to capture high-margin cloud contracts driven by AI applications.