Artificial intelligence (AI) chip start-up Kneron Inc (耐能) yesterday unveiled a cost-saving and energy-efficient alternative to Nvidia Corp’s graphic processing units (GPUs) for generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) solutions at scale.
Its new KL730 AI chip deploys Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) 12-nanometer process technology for production, Kneron said.
Kneron, based in San Diego, California, is known for pioneering the neural processing unit (NPUs), a special circuit for machine learning algorithms.
Photo courtesy of Kneron Inc
“People have been brainwashed that only GPUs can do AI. GPUs are good at rendering graphics and images, and at optimizing the gaming experience, but high costs and heavy energy consumption make GPUs unaffordable for average businesses and individuals to adopt for AI applications,” Kneron founder and CEO Albert Liu (劉峻誠) told a news conference in Taipei.
“Kneron’s NPU is an AI-dedicated chip and able to do what a GPU can do today, but at a much lower cost,” Liu said.
Quanta Cloud Technology Inc (雲達科技) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) have saved up to 75 percent in operational costs after using Kneron’s KL720 NPU in their servers, Liu said.
The KL730 can perform even better, he said.
The KL730 is also 150 to 200 percent more energy-efficient than products manufactured by major industry peers, the company says.
Automakers from Germany and Japan have shown an interest in adopting the KL730 for full-frame detection, a key feature of advanced driver-assistance systems, Liu said.
Liu said he expects autonomous vehicles to become the largest application for NPUs due to their higher average selling prices, followed by servers.
Kneron counts Quanta Cloud, Chunghwa Telecom and South Korea’s Naver Corp among its server customers.
South Korea’s Hanwha Group has adopted its AI chips for use in surveillance cameras, Kneron said.
The KL730 would be available for sampling by customers by the end of this year, the company said, adding that it can be used for enterprise-edge servers, smart home applications and advanced driver-assistance system applications.
Established in 2015, Kneron has raised more than US$140 million, backed by investors including Qualcomm Ventures, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Horizons Ventures Ltd and Sequoia Capital.
Apart from TSMC, GlobalFoundries Inc and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) are also Kneron foundry partners.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in