STMicro Launches 'edge' AI Microcontroller

STMicroelectronics Introduces New Edge AI Microcontroller

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - STMicroelectronics, one of Europe's biggest computer chip companies, has launched a new series of microcontrollers, its first for so called edge AI and machine learning.

The French-Italian company said on Tuesday that it expects the STM32N6 series to find applications in consumer and industrial electronics to perform image and audio processing that would otherwise require larger computers or data centres.

While generative AI algorithms such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini are trained and run from large data centres, edge AI uses similar principles but less computing power for a limited, local purpose, such as in a car, factory or wearable device.

That removes the need to send large volumes of information to a data centre to be processed and then returned, saving time and electricity.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling and Ozan Ergenay; Editing by David Goodman)