RISC-V AI Revolution: DeepComputing and Fractile Partner with Andes Technology for Next-Gen AI Hardware

DeepComputing and Andes Technology Partner to Develop the World's First RISC-V AI PC with 7nm QiLai SoC, Featuring Ubuntu Deskto By Investing.com

San Jose, CA, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DeepComputing, a pioneer in RISC-V innovation, today announced a strategic partnership with Andes Technology Corporation, a leading provider of high-efficiency, low-power 32/64-bit RISC-V processor cores. Together, the two companies collaborate to develop the world's first RISC-V AI PC, powered by Andes' 7nm QiLai SoC. This innovated low-power PC will come equipped with Ubuntu Desktop and aims to redefine AI computing by combining industry-leading hardware and software designed specifically for RISC-V. The collaboration marks a significant milestone in the evolution of AI PCs, which utilize artificial intelligence to enhance productivity, creativity, entertainment, security, and more. The power-efficient RISC-V AI PC, based on the QiLai SoC, integrates a multi-core CPU, vector processor, GPU, and various peripherals for optimal performance, and AI workload handling. This product is designed to cater to developers and enterprises looking for advanced, open-standard RISC-V solutions. Revolutionizing AI Computing with RISC-V and Andes Technology The Andes QiLai SoC contains 2 Andes RISC-V processors: a high-performance quad-core AX45MP cluster and an NX27V vector processor. The AX45MP superscalar multicore is optimized for Linux-based applications by configuring a 2MB Level-2 cache and a Memory Management Unit (MMU). The NX27V vector processor, with a 512-bit vector length and data path width, is specifically designed to handle AI workloads efficiently. Running at up to 2.2 GHz (AX45MP) and 1.5 GHz (NX27V), the QiLai SoC delivers high performance while maintaining low power consumption of approximately 5W at full speed. A configuration of the AX45MP is used in the Renesas RZ/Five MPU while two instances of the NX27V help construct the PE's (Processing Elements) in the 8x8 PE array of the Meta (NASDAQ:META) Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA). We are excited to work with DeepComputing and Canonical for this AI PC project based on our newly-introduced QiLai SoC. said Frankwell Lin, Chairman and CEO of Andes. The QiLai leverages TSMC's 7nm process technology and underscores our commitment to supporting the expansion of the RISC-V ecosystem. As always, Andes continues its position as a pure-play IP provider, not entering the chip business. Andes welcome chip company considering to license QiLai as an SoC IP for production. This AI PC project will demonstrate the power of the RISC-V architecture for general application processing and AI acceleration, and provide a powerful RISC-V platform for application development and processor IP evaluation. The World's First RISC-V AI PC The RISC-V AI PC developed by DeepComputing and Andes will feature Ubuntu Desktop. In addition, there are a suite of tools and frameworks optimized for AI workloads, including the AndeSight™ toolchains, AndeSoft™ software stacks, and AndesAIRE™ NN (NASDAQ:NNBR) SDK, which compiles AI/ML models to executables running on the NX27V vector processor. The product represents a breakthrough in AI PC design, offering an open and modular approach that caters to the growing RISC-V developer community. Designed for a wide range of use cases, the RISC-V AI PC supports diverse AI-driven applications, from productivity and creativity to gaming and security. Gordan MarkuÅ¡, Director of Silicon Alliances at Canonical noted, We are thrilled to collaborate with DeepComputing and Andes on this groundbreaking project. By equipping the world's first RISC-V AI PC with Ubuntu Desktop, we're not only offering a powerful development platform but also enabling a robust, open-source software ecosystem. This partnership will help accelerate the adoption of RISC-V technology and broaden the possibilities for developers and businesses working with AI at the edge. Expanding the RISC-V Ecosystem By offering the world's first RISC-V AI PC, DeepComputing and Andes aim to accelerate the development of RISC-V-based AI solutions and expand the reach of RISC-V in the broader computing landscape. This collaboration is driven by the growing demand for RISC-V platforms that enable fast software development, evaluation, and deployment. We're excited to partner with Andes Technology on this innovative project, said Yuning, CEO of DeepComputing. This partnership aligns with our mission to push the boundaries of RISC-V technologies and provide developers with the tools and platforms they need to shape the future of AI computing. The RISC-V AI PC platform will be unveiled at the RISC-V Summit NA 2024, where it will be showcased at the DeepComputing booth. The product will be officially available in early 2025. Nineteen years in business and a Founding Premier member of RISC-V International, Andes is publicly-listed company (TWSE: 6533; SIN: US03420C2089; ISIN: US03420C1099) and a leading supplier of high-performance/low-power 32/64-bit embedded processor IP solutions, and the driving force in taking RISC-V mainstream. Its V5 RISC-V CPU families range from tiny 32-bit cores to advanced 64-bit Out-of-Order processors with DSP, FPU, Vector, Linux, superscalar, functional safety and/or multi/many-core capabilities. By the end of 2023, the cumulative volume of Andes-Embedded™ SoCs has surpassed 14 billion. For more information, please visit https://www.andestech.com. Follow Andes on LinkedIn、Facebook、X、Bilibili and YouTube! About Canonical Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, provides open source security, support and services. Their portfolio covers critical systems, from the smallest devices to the largest clouds, from the kernel to containers, from databases to AI. With customers that include top tech brands, emerging startups, governments and home users, Canonical delivers trusted open source for everyone. Learn more at https://canonical.com/. About DeepComputing Formed in 2022 by a group of dedicated RISC-V enthusiasts, DeepComputing is a pioneer in RISC-V innovation, leading the way in connecting developer communities, suppliers, tools and systems with the world of RISC-V. We are committed to advancing the adoption and implementation of RISC-V beyond existing ISA chipsets. Together with a diverse and dedicated array of partners, we are focused on driving development of the RISC-V ecosystem through our DeepComputing laptops, pads, workstations, AI speakers and routers, as well as our BravoMonster autonomous remote-control toys and real-world vehicles.

Fractile licenses Andes Technology's RISC-V vector processor as it builds radical new chip to accelerate AI inference By Investing.com

San Jose, CA, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Andes Technology, a leading supplier of high-efficiency, low-power 32/64-bit RISC-V processor cores and Founding Premier member of RISC-V International, are proud to announce a partnership with Fractile, the company building the chips and systems needed to reach the next frontier of AI performance. Fractile is developing AI inference accelerators based on in-memory compute and aim to be able to run frontier AI models " large language, vision and audio models " two orders of magnitude faster than existing hardware, at a tenfold reduction in cost. Large language models and other foundation models have become the driving force behind the skyrocketing scale of data center AI compute requirements. From ChatGPT to the open-source Llama model series, LLMs and other foundation models are finding widespread application. Model inference " the process of serving these trained models " is coming to be the dominant portion of compute costs, exceeding the cost of model training. Fractile has licensed the powerful Andes AX45MPV RISC-V vector processor, combined with ACE (Andes Automated Custom Extension™) and Andes Domain Library, and plans to incorporate the vector processing unit into their first-generation data center AI inference accelerator. Fractile's uses novel circuits to execute 99.99% of the operations needed to run model inference in on-chip memory. This removes the need to shuttle model parameters to and from processor chips, instead baking computational operations into memory directly. This architecture drives both much higher energy efficiency (TOPS/W) as well as dramatically improved latency on inference tasks (tokens per second per user in an LLM context, for instance). The company has been betting on inference scaling " leveraging more inference time-compute to improve AI performance " as the next frontier of AI scaling. The AI world seems to agree with OpenAI recently releasing their latest LLM, o1, which requires orders of magnitude more inference compute than previous LLMs. Fractile's hardware and software stack is built to take models that can still take many seconds to produce an answer on current hardware and make this instantaneous. As part of the collaboration, Fractile will integrate Andes Technology's high-performance RISC-V vector processor with its own groundbreaking in-memory computing architecture via ACE. Fractile's architecture leverages the strengths of both companies, aiming to deliver an exceptionally fast and cost-effective AI inference system that overcomes the limitations of conventional computing methods " blasting through the memory bottleneck. Dr. Charlie Su, President and CTO of Andes Technology, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, "AX45MPV, with strong compute capabilities, high memory bandwidth and the flexible ACE tool, has been chosen by innovative AI companies large and small since its debut in 2023. Andes RISC-V vector processors have enabled many AI SoCs to break free from architecture limitation and achieve new levels of performance and efficiency. We are confident that the synergy between Fractile's In-Memory Computing technologies and Andes' award-winning RISC-V vector processing will lead to yet another success." Dr. Walter Goodwin, CEO and founder of Fractile, added: "The limitations of existing hardware present the biggest barrier to AI performance and adoption. Andes Technology has unmatched technical and commercial leadership on RISC-V vector processors and is a natural partner for us as we build Fractile's accelerator systems. Building hardware for AI acceleration is intrinsically hard " the world's leading models can change overnight, while chips take time to bring to market. Software-programmable vector processors like Andes' are a key part of staying robust to these changes. We're delighted to announce this collaboration as Fractile furthers its mission to supercharge inference. For more information about Andes Technology and Fractile, please visit their respective websites at https://www.andestech.com and https://www.fractile.ai/ About Andes Technology Nineteen years in business and a Founding Premier member of RISC-V International, Andes is a publicly-listed company (TWSE: 6533; SIN: US03420C2089; ISIN: US03420C1099) and a leading supplier of high-performance/low-power 32/64-bit embedded processor IP solutions, and the driving force in taking RISC-V mainstream. Its V5 RISC-V CPU families range from tiny 32-bit cores to advanced 64-bit Out-of-Order processors with DSP, FPU, Vector, Linux, superscalar, and/or multi/many-core capabilities. By the end of 2023, the cumulative volume of Andes-Embedded™ SoCs has surpassed 14 billion. For more information, please visit https://www.andestech.com . Follow Andes on LinkedIn, Twitter, Bilibili and YouTube! ! About Fractile Fractile is an AI hardware company that is building its first groundbreaking new AI chip, capable of running state-of-the-art AI models up to 100x faster and 10x cheaper than existing hardware. Founded in 2022 in London by 28-year-old artificial intelligence PhD Walter Goodwin, Fractile's transformative computing technology will enhance collective AI capabilities by enabling the largest and most capable neural networks of today and tomorrow to run faster, more efficiently and more sustainably. The company has raised $17.5m ( £14m) in funding from investors including the NATO Innovation Fund, Kindred Capital, Oxford Science Enterprises, Cocoa and Inovia Capital, as well as angel investors including Hermann Hauser (founder, Acorn, Amadeus), Stan Boland (ex-Acorn, Icera, NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Five AI) and Amar Shah (co-founder, Wayve).