Analog Devices will pay $1.35bn for edge AI chipmaker Alif Semiconductor
Analog Devices has agreed to buy Alif Semiconductor for $1.35bn in cash, with up to $200m more contingent on performance, adding a line of microcontrollers built to run neural networks inside devices rather than send data to a data centre.
The deal was announced today, and it is expected to close before the end of this year, subject to the usual conditions and antitrust clearance in the United States.
Alif, based in Pleasanton, California, makes what it calls fusion processors alongside its Ensemble and Balletto microcontroller families.
The architecture puts a dedicated low-power neural processing unit on the same die as connectivity and power management, so a sensor can classify what it is looking at without waking a larger processor or opening a radio link.
The silicon is already in production with consumer and industrial customers. Qualcomm made a comparable move when it bought Edge Impulse.
Which is what...
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