Taiwan team unveils self-proclaimed world's smallest AI chip
A team of Taiwanese researchers and a tech company on Friday jointly unveiled what they called the world's smallest AI chip, which is 0.7 centimeters square.
The chip was developed by National Taiwan Normal University's (NTNU) Department of Electrical Engineering, in collaboration with the Taiwan branch of T1 Technologies Inc.
In addition to the 'edge AI chip,' they also unveiled a 'system development kit' (SDK), which is a collection of software used for developing applications for a specific device or operating system.
Within the emerging concept of edge computing, 'the edge' is a theoretical space where a data center resource may be accessed in the minimum amount of time.
The AI chip unveiled by the Taiwan team is 0.7 centimeters on each side, incorporates a deep-learning convolutional network and may be used in many applications in the foreseeable future, the team said.
In the booming AI industry, most products available typically incorporate computer programs and display cards.
However, the 'edge AI chip,' currently the smallest in the world, can be built into main boards and used in various applications, said professor Wang Wei-yen (王偉彥), one of the team members.
Besides, the 'edge AI chip' can transform some devices into a smart digital assistant by carrying out AI identification and sending the result to the matching master control chip, he said.
This is where SDK comes in for subsequent processing and verification, Wang said.
The team said it believes that with such innovation, the product development cycles can be shortened, saving costs, time and manpower and simultaneously transforming many regular audio and video devices into AI products.