AI agents can now run a Northern California radio telescope in the search for alien signals
Researchers say the system made the first real-time AI detection of a pulsar, a spinning dead star.
Researchers searching for signs of life beyond Earth are letting AI agents help run a radio telescope in Northern California, Nvidia said Oct. 30. The SETI Institute, a Mountain View nonprofit, and Breakthrough Listen, a privately funded search for alien signals, built the system for the Allen Telescope Array.
An AI agent is software that can take steps on its own. Here, a researcher types a request in plain language, and the agents point the telescope, fix problems in the data and look for signals.
Nvidia said the system handles 2.4 terabits of data per second, far more than a home internet connection, using its graphics chips. It made the first real-time AI detection of a pulsar, a rapidly spinning dead star, in the Crab Nebula.
"This isn't something to fear. Rather, it's a breakthrough in translation," said Andrew Siemion, who leads Breakthrough Listen's science work and holds the SETI Institute's Bernard M. Oliver chair.
Source: Nvidia, "AI joins the search for extraterrestrial signals," Oct. 30, 2026.