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.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS