MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s largest integrated circuit designer, yesterday said it has joined an alliance formed by Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Microsoft Corp focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI).
MediaTek, which has set its sights on the growing AI market, is taking part in the Open Neural Network Exchange (ONNX) program to drive AI innovations and support the development of its AI platform.
ONNX is an alliance that brings together Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft to establish an interoperability standard that facilitates the transfer of deep-learning models between frameworks, MediaTek said.
ONNX is an open ecosystem which allows AI developers to integrate and match the tools and frameworks they need during any stage of a project, the company said.
The company said its existing AI platform — NeuroPilot AI — supports the Android Neural Network’s (ANN) AI development.
Joining ONNX is expected to help implement MediaTek’s strategic imperative to continue integrating AI across its technology portfolio, the company added.
NeuroPilot AI, introduced by MediaTek to the market early last month, aims to bring a wide range of applications together to power various consumer products, such as smartphones, “smart” homes and “smart” cars.
In addition to Android, MediaTek said the NeuroPilot AI platform is also able to support other neural processing software development kits developed by international brands such as Amazon and Sony Corp.
“The key to developing AI applications and capabilities lies with an open ecosystem where shared research and interoperability are the true enablers of innovation,” MediaTek corporate vice president and general manager of the home entertainment business group Jerry Yu (游人傑) said in a statement.
“In an effort to evolve our own AI platform, and to ensure that interoperability and choice is preserved when developing with MediaTek NeuroPilot, it made sense to widen our support for open AI frameworks by joining the Open Neural Network Exchange,” Yu added.
MediaTek last month signed an agreement with Alibaba AI Labs (阿里巴巴人工智能實驗室), the artificial intelligence development division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), for long-term cooperation on various innovation initiatives, including “smart” home protocols, customized chips for Internet of Things (IoT) applications and AI “smart” hardware, with the aim of developing a more connected world in the IoT era.
Meanwhile, Sony, which has worked with MediaTek on “smart” TVs since 2015, said it is looking forward to cooperating with the Taiwanese firm in AI technology development.
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