A GPU-native AI engine is software designed to run AI tasks specifically on graphics processing units (GPUs) rather than ordinary computer processors, using the GPUs’ many tiny cores to handle large calculations in parallel. For investors, that matters because GPU-native designs typically deliver faster model training and real-time decision-making at lower cost and greater scale—like swapping a pickup for a freight truck when hauling heavy data workloads—which can improve product performance and reduce infrastructure spending.
nvidia cudatechnical
NVIDIA CUDA is a software toolkit that lets developers run programs on high-speed graphics processors to perform heavy calculations much faster than a normal computer chip. For investors, CUDA matters because broad adoption creates steady demand for the hardware that runs it and builds an ecosystem that can lock in customers and drive revenue growth—similar to how a popular app store increases sales of the devices it supports.
orthorectificationtechnical
Orthorectification is the process of correcting aerial or satellite photos so they line up accurately with a map by removing distortions caused by camera angle and terrain height. Think of it as stretching and flattening a photo to match real-world coordinates, which lets analysts measure distances and areas reliably. For investors, orthorectified images mean more trustworthy location data for monitoring assets, land use, infrastructure projects, and environmental changes.
atmospheric compensationtechnical
Atmospheric compensation means actions taken to balance or offset a company’s release of air pollutants or greenhouse gases by removing or reducing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere, such as planting trees, funding carbon capture, or paying for verified emission-reduction projects. Investors care because these measures affect compliance costs, future liabilities and reputational risk—think of it like buying insurance to neutralize a company’s air pollution footprint so it can meet regulations or public expectations.
generative ai diffusion modeltechnical
A generative AI diffusion model is a type of artificial intelligence that creates images, text, or other data by starting from random noise and gradually refining it into a coherent output, like sculpting a detailed figure from a rough block. Investors care because these models drive next‑generation products and services, influence computing and data costs, and shape competitive advantage, licensing and regulatory risk across companies that build or use advanced AI.
super-resolutiontechnical
Super-resolution is a set of techniques that create sharper, more detailed images than a camera or sensor would normally capture, often by combining multiple lower-detail images or using smart software to infer missing detail. For investors, it matters because it can materially improve product performance in fields like medical imaging, satellite reconnaissance, and semiconductor inspection—unlocking new applications, higher value offerings, or competitive advantage that can drive revenue and margins. Think of it as sharpening a blurry photo to reveal extra detail that the original camera couldn’t record.
ai embeddingstechnical
AI embeddings are compact numerical summaries that turn text, images, or other data into a set of coordinates so a computer can measure similarity and find patterns — like turning a paragraph into a fingerprint or a location on a map. Investors care because embeddings power search, recommendations, and automation features that can make products faster, smarter, and easier to scale, affecting a company’s ability to grow revenue and lower costs.
semantic searchestechnical
Semantic searches use the meaning and context of words rather than exact keyword matches to find relevant documents, data, or news. For investors this matters because it uncovers related press releases, filings, and market commentary even when different words or phrasing are used, speeding research and reducing missed signals—think of it as asking a knowledgeable librarian for conceptually related materials instead of scanning an index for exact terms.
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about change on Earth, today announced its initiative to revolutionize how satellite imagery is processed, enhanced, and analyzed. Planet and NVIDIA are collaborating on ways to adopt GPUs to accelerate processing imagery and delivering insights. Planet is leveraging NVIDIA’s Blackwell and NVIDIA IGX Thor platforms to transform raw pixels into analysis-ready insights in a few seconds instead of hours.
“Planet is solving a massive, planetary-scale data problem by imaging the Earth every single day,” said Will Marshall, Co-founder and CEO of Planet. “The traditional methods of batch processing on legacy CPUs can no longer scale with the speed of global change. By developing a GPU-native AI engine, we are unlocking the full potential of our petabyte-scale archive, delivering orders of magnitude speed improvements and physics-informed generative AI products that were previously impossible. It’s cost-efficient, faster, and benefits our customers: from disaster response to security, time saves lives.”
The collaboration focuses on three primary pillars of innovation:
Pipeline Acceleration via NVIDIA CUDA: Planet is working with NVIDIA to demonstrate GPU-accelerating the heavy lifting components of satellite data ground processing—including compositing, orthorectification, and atmospheric compensation entirely onto NVIDIA GPUs. This flexible NVIDIA CUDA-based implementation allows Planet to deploy its processing power anywhere in the stack: in the cloud, at edge ground stations using NVIDIA Blackwell, or directly in space on the NVIDIA IGX Thor platform. This shift delivers orders of magnitude acceleration over legacy CPU-based ground processing.
Generative AI Super-Resolution with NVIDIA CorrDiff: In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, Planet is applying NVIDIA CorrDiff, a generative AI diffusion model, to its PlanetScope® imagery. Unlike standard digital filters, this physics-informed generative AI trains on Planet’s vast archive to unlock super-resolution capabilities, delivering visually superior products and extracting new levels of detail from legacy data.
Global Embeddings for Intelligent Search: Planet and NVIDIA are defining new architectures to convert the entire planet’s daily data stream into scalable AI embeddings. By creating a multi-dimensional "vector map" of the Earth, Planet is enabling capabilities for customers to perform intelligent, semantic searches across the entire globe to find patterns and anomalies in near real-time.
Finally, Planet has successfully tested the NVIDIA IGX Jetson Thor module for use in space applications and is integrating the GPU on its next-generation Pelican satellites as well as the upcoming Owl constellation to enable Real Time Insights directly from space.
“The integration of NVIDIA AI infrastructure with Planet’s petabyte-scale imagery is driving a fundamental shift in geospatial intelligence,” said Dion Harris, senior director of HPC and AI infrastructure at NVIDIA. “From the data center to the orbital edge, we’re enabling a new class of AI-powered workflows that transform vast volumes of Earth observation data into actionable planetary insights at the speed of change.”
Planet will showcase these technologies at NVIDIA GTC in San Jose. For more information on the technical implementation of these accelerated workflows, join the session "Accelerate Geospatial Workflows for Planetary Insight" [S81732] on Tuesday, March 17, at 3:00 PM PDT, featuring Kiruthika Devaraj, VP of Spacecraft at Planet, and May Casterline, Director of Solutions Architecture at NVIDIA.
About Planet Labs PBC
Planet is a leading provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions. Planet is driven by a mission to image the world every day, and make change visible, accessible and actionable. Founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists, Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest Earth observation fleet of imaging satellites. Planet provides mission-critical data, advanced insights, and software solutions to customers comprising the world’s leading agriculture, forestry, intelligence, education and finance companies and government agencies, enabling users to simply and effectively derive unique value from satellite imagery. Planet is a public benefit corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange as PL. To learn more visit www.planet.com and follow us on X, LinkedIn, or tune in to HBO’s ‘Wild Wild Space’.
