The applications of AI are becoming increasingly widespread in our daily lives. With the continuous iteration of generative AI and large language models, various innovative applications are emerging. These include, such as smart home appliances, autonomous vehicles, and robots to VR/AR applications.These edge devices are equipped with AI processors that compute on the device directly, further accelerating the launch of innovative Edge AI applications. However, these devices also face several challenges, including excessive GPU power consumption and high costs limiting the widespread adoption of Edge AI products.DEEPX won three CES Innovation Awards in 2024Photo: DEEPXDEEPX, an AI chip startup from Korea, won three CES Innovation Awards 2024 in January for its unique AI chip ultra-gap source technology. The awards were in the categories of Computer Hardware, Embedded Technology, and Robotics, and Computer Hardware & components.Their NPU processor boasts low power consumption and cost-effectiveness and addresses the issue of insufficient accuracy found in existing NPUs on the market. This technology was recognized by lots of semiconductor companies during CES 2024 and is scheduled for mass market release in late 2024.DEEPX CEO Lokwon KimPhoto: DEEPXLearn from ARM to build DEEPX into a leading On-device AI company"The main battlegrounds in the AI era will move to the 'edge'. Just as ARM dominated the CPU market with smartphones, the semiconductor company that dominates the edge will dominate the AI market," DEEPX CEO Lokwon Kim said.Kim, a former senior researcher in Apple's Application Processor (AP) design, returned to South Korea to establish DEEPX after gaining extensive experience in semiconductor design at renowned companies like Broadcom, Cisco, and IBM T.J Watson. His goal is to build DEEPX into a leading AI company in the era of on-device AI, reminiscent of how ARM revolutionized the CPU market with its low-power technology.On-device AI, which processes information within a mobile device without connecting to a server or cloud, is a burgeoning field. ARM broke Intel's dominance in the CPU market with its efficient, low-power processors, which are now prevalent in smartphones and expanding into PCs and servers. Kim aspires for DEEPX to have a similar impact on the AI semiconductor industry.Kim identified a weakness in Korea's semiconductor ecosystem, particularly in system semiconductors. Drawing inspiration from Morris Chang, the founder of TSMC, who returned to Taiwan to establish a leading foundry after learning from the American semiconductor giant TI, Kim saw an opportunity to address these gaps in the South Korean market.Chang predicted a demand-driven semiconductor market, leading to the creation of TSMC, which produces semiconductors on consignment. Similarly, Kim believes that the opening of the AI semiconductor market offers a chance for innovation and growth.Democratizing AI TechnologyKim opposes the monopolization of AI semiconductor technology through strategic investments (SIs) that often lead to mergers, acquisitions, or alliances, resulting in technology being controlled by a single entity. His experience at Apple motivated him to advocate for more democratic and accessible AI semiconductor technology. He believes that AI semiconductors should be universally available and not restricted to proprietary use, emphasizing the importance of technology that everyone can utilize.To pursue this vision, Kim established DEEPX in Pangyo, South Korea's hub for fabless companies. He aims to create an AI semiconductor company with a unique value, promoting innovation over exclusivity.DEEPX is positioned not as a competitor to global semiconductor giants but as a complementary force, enhancing the global semiconductor landscape by providing accessible and advanced AI technology.DEEPX aims to be the world leader in on-device AIPhoto: DEEPXAnalyzing the Difference Between NPUs and GPUs: DEEPX's Unique SolutionThe necessity for developing specialized AI semiconductors, such as NPUs, stems from the limitations of GPUs, which have traditionally been used for AI computations. GPUs, originally designed to process graphic data, excel at handling large amounts of data simultaneously, making them suitable for AI learning tasks.However, their high power consumption and operational costs present significant drawbacks. This makes them less ideal for "edge AI," which involves running AI applications directly on devices like controllers, robots, and self-driving cars - collectively referred to as the "edge."NPUs (Neural Processing Units) are modeled after the human brain, offering the benefits of lower power consumption and reduced production costs. However, existing NPUs have struggled with accuracy and support for the latest AI algorithms. DEEPX stands out among fabless companies by addressing the core challenges of AI semiconductors in one comprehensive solution.Unlike typical NPU vendors that release a single chip, DEEPX recognizes that different electronic devices require varying levels of semiconductor capabilities. For instance, AI for closed-circuit television (CCTV) primarily needs to analyze video, whereas AI for robots involves far more complex computations.To address this, DEEPX has developed from low-end to high-end performance four chips at once: one that can connect a single electronic device for AI computations, and another that can link three or four devices for broader AI tasks. This universality across devices is a key reason DEEPX received the Innovation Award at CES 2024.DEEPX's commitment to high performance at lower power and cost also earned them the Innovation Award. The company's latest AI algorithm, Yolo7, runs on their semiconductor DX-V1, produced using Samsung's 28nm process.This algorithm was previously incompatible with conventional NPUs. In addition, the DX-M1 chip boasts a design area one-third the size of other NPUs, and its manufacturing cost is similarly reduced by one-third. Combining low unit costs with high performance in a low-power NPU, DEEPX's products are poised to lead the AI semiconductor market.NPUs are categorized into data center-based NPUs, which handle large-scale inference, and edge-type NPUs, designed for use in electronic devices such as robots, smart cameras, smart factories, consumer electronics, etc. DEEPX targets both data center and edge NPU markets. DEEPX's NPUs overcome the common shortcomings of existing NPUs by providing high accuracy and efficiency.DEEPX's innovation lies in creating NPUs that are not only small and cost-effective but also achieve accuracy comparable to, or even better than, GPUs. This success is attributed to DEEPX's pioneering work in two core technologies: IQ8 (an INT8 model compression technology), and Smart Memory Access(minimizes D-RAM usage). DEEPX leads the market for low-power AI solutions, achieving the world's highest power-to-performance ratio through proprietary advancements in hardware and software optimization.Advancing Towards Mass ProductionDEEPX has successfully demonstrated its original technology with sample units and is in the final stages of preparing its mass-production chip. Scheduled for market release in late 2024, the widespread adoption of products featuring DEEPX's chips could establish the company as a technology leader in the on-device AI market by 2025.The essence of on-device AI lies in low power consumption and the seamless integration of hardware and software. Since AI must operate on small devices, minimizing power consumption is crucial while maximizing AI performance within limited computing power.Kim, drawing from his experience at Apple, emphasizes the importance of designing hardware and software with equal priority from the outset. Unlike Apple, which develops its own devices and services, DEEPX engaged with approximately 700 customers during product development to understand their needs and find the optimal development point. This customer-centric approach has been pivotal in refining DEEPX's products.Four companies from Israel and the U.S., including DEEPX, are vying for dominance in the emerging on-device AI market. As the market begins to flourish beyond the server market, this competition is crucial for setting future momentum.Kim is confident in DEEPX's strategy. He notes that while some competitors prioritize rapid product releases, DEEPX focuses on price and optimization first. Given the rapid evolution of AI application services, Kim believes it is more important to align with market trends and offer high-performance features at a competitive cost rather than rushing products to market.DEEPX's innovative approach to developing versatile, efficient, and cost-effective NPUs positions the company as a formidable contender in the on-device AI market. By prioritizing customer needs and maintaining a balanced focus on hardware and software optimization, DEEPX is set to lead the industry with cutting-edge AI semiconductor solutions.DEEPX CEO Lokwon KimPhoto: DEEPXDEEPX Company's Philosophy: Valuing Technology Over Short-term ResultsDEEPX is not focused on making AI semiconductors for autonomous cars or smartphones. Instead, DEEPX aims to advance the integration of AI into everyday life. The company's products are designed to bring AI to areas such as CCTV and robots, pushing these technologies beyond outdated algorithms. DEEPX's mission is to pioneer advancements that should have already been made in the AI semiconductor industry.At the entrance of DEEPX, there is a note to employees that emphasizes the value of technology over monetary gains. It quotes Carl Sagan's "pale blue dot," reflecting the idea that life should be lived with value rather than chasing money and power. The message encourages the 70 employees to love their work and find it meaningful, aligning with the company's ethos of creating technology for the greater good.DEEPX believes in 'technology that everyone shares.' From a management perspective, AI is seen as one of humanity's final inventions, marking the endpoint of human evolution. The goal is not to monopolize technology or chase profits but to lead the way in making AI accessible and beneficial for all. DEEPX's AI semiconductors are the cornerstone of this vision, enabling widespread adoption of AI.Future Plan: Global Expansion and InnovationDEEPX's visionary CEO, Kim, has outlined a strategic plan for the future:- Global Market Entry: Starting from the second half of this year, DEEPX plans to aggressively enter the global market with its first-generation product, consisting of four AI chips. This move is set to usher in the era of "AI Everywhere."- Technological Innovation: DEEPX aims to develop new technologies that enable super-scale AI services with power consumption of less than 5W. This innovation will make advanced AI technologies more accessible and practical for widespread use.- Leadership in AI: DEEPX is committed to becoming a leading comprehensive AI chip company globally. By focusing on power and cost efficiency, the company seeks to provide core technologies that transition giant AI advancements from the realm of science to everyday applications.DEEPX's mission is to integrate AI into everyday life, advancing technology in meaningful ways. By valuing innovation over profit and aiming for global leadership, DEEPX is set to play a pivotal role in the future of AI. The company's commitment to shared technology and global expansion highlights its dedication to making AI accessible and beneficial for humanity.Join DEEPX's Early Engagement Customer Program (EECP), and don't miss out on their innovative products designed to enhance your AI capabilities. Discover how over 100 global companies, including Hyundai Kia Motors Robotics Lab, POSCO DX, Supermicro, and Dell, leverage their hardware and software to power their next-generation AI products.For more information, you can follow DEEPX on social media or visit their official website.

SK Hynix held a press conference titled "Memory, the Power of AI" on the sidelines of CES 2024 in Las Vegas where its CEO Kwak Noh-Jung laid out the company's vision in the AI era.At the press conference, attended by both domestic and international media, Kwak said that the importance of memory will grow further as generative AI becomes widespread. He also said that "SK Hynix is providing products from the world's best technologies to the ICT industry, leading the "Memory-Centric AI Everywhere."Kwak laid out the company's plan to introduce the "Custom Memory Platform" to provide customized AI memory solutions as demands for diverse memory products are growing.Below are the key points mentioned during the press conference.The ICT industry evolved dramatically through the PC, mobile, and now cloud-based AI era. Throughout, data in diverse types and massive amounts are being generated and communicated.Now we enter a new era of AGI built on all that data amassed. The new era will thus move towards a market where AGI constantly generates data and repeats learning and evolution.In the AGI era, memory will play a pivotal role in processing data.The role of memory is even more crucial from a computing system perspective. Before, systems were basically an iteration of dataflows from the CPU to memory and then back to the CPU in a sequential manner, but such a structure is not suitable to handle the massive data generated through AI.Now, AI systems are connecting large counts of AI chips and memory in a parallel fashion to accelerate massive data processing. This means that AI system performance depends on stronger and faster memory.The direction for memory in the AI era should be handling data at the fastest speed, in the most effective way, and in higher volume. That aligns with the past century of memory development that has improved density, speed, and bandwidth.The memory-centric AGI era has a clear leader: SK Hynix. We are providing diverse products with ultra-high performance such as HBM3 and HBM3E, the world's best and widest sought-after products, to markets and industries, TSV DIMM, the industry's largest-capacity server memory, LPDDR5 Turbo, the world's fastest mobile memory, and DIMM, the best-in-class performance server.SK Hynix is leading the "Memory-Centric AI Everywhere" in various industries ranging from AGI, conventional data centers, mobile, and PC systems.Building on our lineup, we will deliver a bandwidth-focused HBM4 and HBM4E, a power-improved LPCAMM, a capacity-expanding CXL and QLC storage, as well as compute-capable PIM and hone our technological leadership in the AI era.SK Hynix's AI memory solutions are delivering customers a new experience.Yet, AI systems are advancing at a breathtaking pace, leading to customer demands for diverse forms of memory performance.While some customers require ever larger capacities or more power-efficient products, others want higher bandwidth and the addition of data computing capabilities.So, we are planning to launch SK Hynix's proprietary "Custom Memory Platform."We will bring to AI systems our memory-specialized technology and R&D expertise for optimal convergence with customers' needs.This platform will transcend conventional ways and deliver an entirely new value proposition, catering to every customer with the most optimal memory solution for their needs.SK Hynix is preparing over 4.15 million square meters of a new memory manufacturing base worth over 120 trillion won (92.7 billion USD) investment.This massive capacity will allow us to continue serving existing customers while responding to the explosive growth of AI memory demand with the world's best products delivered in time.Today, I took the opportunity to share SK Hynix's readiness for a total AI memory provider with a clear plan for technology, customers, and production base.Please join us in the new AGI future we shall open and expand with you.SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung at the Press Conference

ThroughTek Co., Ltd. (TUTK), a solution provider of AI-IoT cloud platform services, will be exhibiting at CES in Las Vegas from January 9, 2024, to January 12, 2024, at booth 50342 in the Venetian Expo. With the theme "Cloud Services for IoT Device Community," TUTK will showcase a series of IoT products and smart PaaS solutions at CES 2024, focusing on P2P Connection, Hausetopia App, Cloud Recording (VSaaS PaaS), DMP (Data/Device Management Platform), Cloud VMS (Video Management System), and more. These products and solutions can help businesses swiftly implement cloud management of videos, data, and IoT devices, and establish an interconnected IoT device community facilitated by TUTK.The key highlights of the showcase are as follows:P2P ConnectionTUTK's patented P2P Connection technology provides fast and secure connections directly between IoT devices and end-user clients. The P2P Connection can identify the network environment and establish the optimal route for the connection. Additionally, TUTK offers self-hosting server options for its customers. With a high P2P penetration rate, customers can achieve cost reductions in video streaming and data transmission.Hausetopia AppHarnessing TUTK's exclusive technologies, the Hausetopia App, a pre-built and user-friendly application, seamlessly accommodates a variety of IoT devices using diverse communication protocols. After receiving TUTK certification, the IoT devices become readily accessible and controllable via the Hausetopia App. Additionally, the Hausetopia App offers easy customization, enabling brands to create branded applications tailored to their specific requirements.Cloud Recording (VSaaS PaaS)TUTK's Cloud Recording (VSaaS PaaS) is a cloud-based platform equipped with API documentation and servers. It provides a cost-effective alternative to traditional video surveillance solutions by eliminating the need for on-site server installation and system configuration. The Cloud Recording service offers a diverse range of subscription plans for cloud recording and storage. Brand manufacturers can select plans that suit their specific requirements or create customized plans. Furthermore, brand manufacturers have the flexibility to offer plans for their customers to choose from.DMP (Data/Device Management Platform)TUTK's DMP (Data/Device Management Platform) automatically gathers, processes, and analyzes data from IoT devices, presenting it in a visualization dashboard. With this platform, businesses gain real-time monitoring capabilities over their IoT devices. Moreover, businesses can customize their data analysis criteria, including frequency, scheduling, and formulas, and visualize IoT device performance with graphs and charts, offering valuable insights and enabling faster, informed decision-making.Cloud VMS (Video Management System)TUTK's Cloud VMS (Video Management System) is a web-based platform that allows System Integrators (SIs), etc. to seamlessly integrate video management features into their solutions. The Cloud VMS directs IP Cameras, NVRs, XVRs, and sensor data to the cloud, enabling seamless management on a single platform. The Cloud VMS boasts a diverse array of practical features, such as the "Dashboard," "Smart Search," "Share View," "Cloud Recording," and more.The "Dashboard" provides convenient access to vital information such as device status, event count, alert count, and event footage. "Smart Search" allows for swift retrieval of specific details, such as gender and outfit, significantly reducing search time. Each channel within the Cloud VMS is equipped with a share link, facilitating the easy sharing of camera footage with authorized individuals. Lastly, the Cloud VMS offers secure cloud recording and storage for crucial event footage, eliminating concerns about video loss due to device damage.The exhibition highlights will only showcase a fraction of TUTK's dedication to harnessing IoT technology for enhancing the intelligence of diverse hardware devices. TUTK remains steadfast in collaborating with ecosystem partners to foster the growth of the IoT device community associated with TUTK.

SK Hynix Inc. announced today that it will showcase the technology for ultra-high performance memory products, the core of future AI infrastructure, at CES 2024, the most influential tech event in the world taking place from January 9 through 12 in Las Vegas.SK Hynix (or "the company," www.skhynix.com) said that it will highlight its future vision represented by its Memory Centric* at the show and promote the importance of memory products accelerating the technological innovation in the AI era and its competitiveness in the global memory markets.*Memory Centric: An SK Hynix vision where memory products play a pivotal role in ICT devicesThe company will run a space titled SK Wonderland jointly with other major SK Group affiliates including SK Inc., SK Innovation, and SK Telecom, and showcase its major AI memory products including HBM3E.SK Hynix plans to provide HBM3E, the world's best-performing memory product that it successfully developed in August, to the world's largest AI technology companies by starting mass production in the first half of 2024.At SK Group's space with an amusement park theme, SK Hynix will display an AI Fortuneteller where the generative AI technology based on HBM3E is applied. The AI fortuneteller is expected to give visitors fresh fun by creating an image of their cartoon characters based on their own faces and reading New Year fortunes.SK Hynix's leading AI technology will also be displayed at the SK ICT Family Demo Room jointly run by other SK ICT companies. The company will showcase Compute Express Link (CXL**), a next-generation interface, a test product of Computational Memory Solution (CMS), a memory solution that integrates the computational functions of CXL, and Accelerator-in-Memory based Accelerator (AiMX***), a processing-in-memory chip-based accelerator card with low-cost and high-efficiency for generative AI.**CXL (Compute Express Link): a PCIe-based next-generation interconnect protocol, on which high-performance computing systems are based***AiMX (Accelerator-in-Memory based Accelerator): SK Hynix's accelerator card product that specializes in large language models using GDDR6-AiM chipsParticularly, CXL memory, along with HBM, is one of the core products in the limelight with the rise of AI technology. SK Hynix plans to commercialize 96GB and 128GB CXL 2.0 memory solutions based on DDR5 in the second half for shipments to AI customers."We are thrilled to showcase our technology, which has risen to the core of the AI infrastructure in the U.S., home to AI technology," said Justin Kim, President (Head of AI Infra) at SK Hynix. "SK Hynix will step up its efforts for collaboration with global players while seeking to accelerate a turnaround in business with its leadership in the AI memory space."SK Hynix showcases its future AI infrastructure at CES 2024 with the SK Wonderland booth, featuring the Memory Centric vision in collaboration with SK Group affiliates

With significant increases in chip computing power and the rapid evolution of algorithms, AI is widely applied in various areas such as autonomous driving, smart transportation, smart manufacturing, smart cities, and smart healthcare. For smart manufacturing, AI not only benefits manufacturing process optimization, productivity, and product quality detection, but also enables applications of people access control, production environment monitoring, and industrial worker safety.Monitoring of public places is also critical for smart cities. It not only facilitates daily road inspections using mobile vehicles for governance but also effectively reduces criminal incidents, enhancing residents' living security.There are numerous existing smart surveillance solutions in the market, but in Linker Vision's opinion, those legacy solutions have two major drawbacks difficult to get rid of: First, training the initial AI model costs a huge amount of manpower and time to collect a large amount of data and do labeling work, which would be an obstacle to deploying AI applications, leading to a delayed schedule.Second, unable to keep optimizing AI models to promptly handle variations in the ambient environment. It's difficult to improve the generalization of overall recognition performance, and successful AI cases cannot be easily replicated in increasingly complex environments."We've accumulated a lot of experience in the area of autonomous driving and provided high-complexity data processing services to international OEMs such as Sony and Bosch." Dr. Paul Shieh, the Founder & CEO of Linker Vision said. "For smart manufacturing, Linker Vision has offered end-to-end intelligent monitoring solutions to big names such as TSMC and Formosa Plastics."Recognizing the strong demand for AI solutions in applications of smart manufacturing and smart cities, Linker Vision introduces a continuous learning AI platform, DataVerse, with its exclusive Large Vision Model as the kernel. By partnering with edge computing hardware providers and leveraging Amazon SageMaker to speed the process of AI model development and iteration, improving efficiency by more than 10x. In the meantime, combined with AWS Panorama, it can effectively save the time of deploying AI models at the edge by more than 50%.Linker Vision built the standardized, general-purpose VisionAI platform, and perfectly integrated the software and hardware of 5G AIoT. It's for the global market, and supports continuous learning and iterative optimization, to help enterprises significantly reduce the cost and time for deploying intelligent surveillance solutions.Linker Vision's 5G AIoT solution can be applied to strengthen surveillance in factories, including equipment monitoring against issues of pipeline corrosion, and gas leaks. It also supports the management of restricted areas, early detection of fire and smoke, identification of abnormal employee behavior, and monitoring of other potential hazards and security risks.For the usage of smart manufacturing, their existing customer spans industries such as semiconductors, petrochemicals, steel, manufacturing, logistics, and environmental companies. Its application scope also extends to smart cities, keeping close collaborations with the municipal governments of Kaohsiung and Tainan.Speed the Deployment of Smart SurveillanceLinker Vision concentrates on the development and application of Large Vision Model, its 5G AIoT solution has three key features: Acceleration, Generalization, and Service Replicability. In terms of Acceleration, the company provides an efficient Auto-Labeling tool and large-scale image models, which can help businesses shorten development cycles for fast building and deploying visual AI applications.To Generalization, the approach involves utilizing multimodal AI with continuous learning capabilities, enabling VisionAI models to be widely applied in different environments to meet the diverse usage requirements of various scenarios. Service Replicability emphasizes making solutions and services replicable for applications across multiple domains.Melody (Ruei-An) Liu, Global Business Development Manager at Linker Vision, explained that the 5G AIoT solution is a cloud-edge integration solution encompassing advanced image analysis, data management, auto-labeling, model monitoring, and more. It provides fast deployment and surveillance capabilities, allowing businesses to be informed of all the conditions of their workplaces.And because Linker Vision train and optimize the Vision AI models on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform. Users can easily get the latest version of VisionAI on the AWS Marketplace for future requirements of different use cases."It's our pleasure to be invited to participate in the Startup Terrace Kaohsiung AWS Joint Innovation Center (JIC). By leveraging AWS' cloud technologies to accelerate product development, we aim to provide customers with more diverse services, and see it as a strong support for our expansion to the global market." Liu added.Based on all the rich and successful cases in the Taiwan market, Linker Vision is set to vigorously expand into the global market in 2024. By working with local partners, the company plans to introduce its 5G AIoT solution to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore, as well as the European and North American markets.As a part of the strategy, the company will announce a whole new product at CES 2024, and go on to promote it at MWC 2024. By demonstrating the features and advantages of its solutions, they hope to attract more interest and opportunities for collaboration.Large Vision Model speeds up the process of AI model development and iteration, improving efficiency by more than 10xPhoto: Linker Vision