Tech
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin enters the space data center game
Blue Origin, the space conglomerate founded by Amazon chair Jeff Bezos, has asked the U.S. government for permission to launch a network of more than 50,000 satellites that will act as a data center in orbit.
In a March 19 document filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Blue Origin’s attorneys described “Project Sunrise” as a network of spacecraft that will perform advanced computation in orbit to “ease mounting pressure on U.S. communities and natural resources by shifting energy — and water-intensive compute away from terrestrial data centers.”
Blue Origin’s filing did not describe its plans for the satellites in detail, so it’s hard to know how much computing power the company is aiming to generate in space. It does note that Blue Origin plans to use another satellite constellation it is seeking to build, called TeraWave, as a high-throughput communications backbone for the data satellites.
Shifting massive compute to space is attractive because solar energy is free to harvest and, once in orbit, there are fewer regulations restricting corporate activities. Entrepreneurs behind these projects envision a future where AI tools are widespread and imagine that much of the inference work behind them will be outsourced to orbit.
Several companies are already pursuing the idea. SpaceX has filed for permission to launch a million satellites to be used as a distributed data center, while the startup Starcloud has proposed a network of 60,000 spacecraft to the FCC. Google is also developing a concept for a space data center called Project Suncatcher, which will see its partner Planet Labs launch two demo spacecraft next year.
While excitement about space data centers is high in the tech world, the economics of these projects remain challenging. Technology for cooling processors and communicating between spacecraft with powerful lasers will need to be developed and manufactured as cheaply as possible, while scientists are still determining how well advanced chips work on different tasks while exposed to the high radiation environment of space.
A critical area is the cost to launch these computers into orbit, and most are betting that the price of reaching orbit will fall due to SpaceX’s Starship rocket, which is still under development and may see its first 2026 launch next month.
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This is an area where Blue Origin, long an also-ran in the rocket business, may have an advantage. Its New Glenn rocket, which first flew last year, is one of the most powerful operational launch vehicles on Earth. If the company can start flying and reusing them at a regular pace, Blue Origin could see the same kind of benefits from vertical integration that allowed SpaceX to dominate space telecommunications with its Starlink network.
Beyond economic and technological challenges, the space environment itself may prove an obstacle. Space in key orbits close to Earth is getting ever more congested, and adding tens or hundreds of thousands of new satellites will increase concerns about orbital collisions. Meanwhile, burning up thousands of satellites in orbit after they become obsolete, as is standard practice in the industry today, is likely to affect the chemistry of the upper atmosphere, with researchers concerned about harms to the ozone layer.
The filing also lacked details about timing, but experts tell TechCrunch that such projects are unlikely to come to fruition until the 2030s.
Tech
Glean’s top line crosses $300M as AI budget cutting becomes its major selling point
Glean, a company often described as the Google for enterprise, said it has reached $300 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), a three-fold increase from the $100 million milestone it reached just 15 months ago.
While many AI startups are growing at a blistering pace, Glean’s progress is particularly remarkable. After years of essentially being the only player in the category, the seven-year-old startup is accelerating its growth as tech giants enter the enterprise AI search market with rival products.
“The first four or five years of our existence, we had no competition,” Glean CEO Arvind Jain told TechCrunch. “Given how important search is to make AI work in the enterprise, every single company in the world wants to be in this space.”
Tech heavyweights building Glean-like tools include Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, Salesforce, and Atlassian.
Jain maintains there’s value in being a first mover in the space, but that it’s also equally important to offer a better product.
What Glean does better than its competition, according to Jain, comes down to the deep understanding that its AI tools have of customers’ business needs. Glean’s AI achieves this knowledge — a concept captured by the new, popular term “context graph” — by connecting to and learning from enterprises’ internal software systems.
Jain claims that Glean’s context graph also helps enterprises cut AI computing costs.
“If you connect your AI to Glean, it gives you all the information that you need to do your work, and that results in AI consuming far fewer tokens compared to if you unleash AI onto your systems directly,” Jain said. That’s because with Glean, AI ends up performing fewer operations, he added.
At a time when many companies are blowing through their AI budgets, those token cost savings have become a major selling point for the company.
“One of the things you know our customers really like about Glean is the fact that we can reduce your AI bill significantly,” he said.
The company, which was last valued at $7.2 billion when it raised a $150 million Series F last June, offers various pricing structures to its customers, which include Databricks, Reddit, Pinterest, and Samsung.
According to Jain, Glean offers both a consumption-based model, where clients pay per use, and a hybrid model that combines a fixed monthly fee for active users with separate usage fees for model consumption.
Glean is definitely not the first company to do this, but it’s worth pointing out that the company’s $300 million milestone cannot be fully described as traditional ARR, because a consumption model by definition doesn’t have a strictly recurring component.
Pure consumption pricing models depend on fluctuating user activity rather than predictable subscription renewals, therefore a portion of Glean’s top line is more accurately described as an annualized revenue run rate.
Glean did not immediately respond to a request for comment; this post will be updated if the company replies.
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Tech
Final 24 hours to save up to $410 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket
This is it. The countdown is almost over. You now have until tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT to lock in Early Bird savings of up to $410 for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 before prices increase.
If Disrupt has been on your must-attend list, this is your final chance to secure the lowest available rates before the next price jump hits. Once the deadline passes, so do the savings.
Register now and join 10,000+ founders, investors, operators, and innovators at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 13–15 for three days packed with networking, startup discovery, and conversations shaping the future of tech. Bring a plus-one at 50%, or bring a group to get an up to 30% discount.
What makes Disrupt worth attending year after year
TechCrunch Disrupt is where startup momentum accelerates. The event brings together the people actively building, funding, and scaling what’s next across AI, fintech, SaaS, climate, cybersecurity, consumer tech, and beyond.
Attendees come to Disrupt for:
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With 300+ exhibiting startups, Startup Battlefield 200, curated networking experiences, and multiple stages of programming, Disrupt is built to help attendees make meaningful connections and real business progress.
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Hear directly from tech leaders shaping the industry
Every year, Disrupt brings together hundreds of influential voices across startups and venture capital. Past speakers have included leaders from the companies and firms shaping the future of AI, enterprise software, fintech, consumer tech, and more.
This year will deliver the same high-caliber experience, with 200+ sessions across six industry-focused stages, plus roundtables and breakouts covering scaling, AI, fintech, infrastructure, robotics, and emerging technologies. Explore the growing agenda to see the latest sessions and speaker announcements.
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Savings of up to $410 end tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT
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Tech
Today is the last day to apply to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 returns October 13–15 to Moscone West in San Francisco — and applications to speak are open for just a few more hours.
We’re inviting founders, investors, operators, and technology experts to apply for a chance to take the stage at one of the most influential tech events of the year.
More than 10,000 startup and VC leaders will gather at Disrupt 2026 to explore what’s next in AI, scaling, fintech, infrastructure, robotics, and the future of innovation.
Applications close tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now to share your expertise and help shape the conversations defining the tech industry.
Pick your session format
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Breakout Sessions: A 30-minute talk (up to 4 speakers, including a moderator) with a 20-minute audience Q&A. Capacity: 100 attendees.
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