Newertech: Micron invests $100M to AI companies

NEWERTECH – On Wednesday, Micron Technology stated plans of making up to $100 million investment in startup companies developing artificial intelligence technologies. The AI technologies will be used in factory automation, self-driving vehicles, and other emerging industries.

For over a decade ago, Micron Technology has launched a corporate venture capital program. However, Sumit Sadana, Micron’s chief business officer said that its present investments had been “very sporadic” and “very close to our core business” of making chips.

Although it has solid returns from its existing venture operations, the Idaho-based company, however, believes that it can make an ultimate sell of its chips through broad involvements in artificial intelligence. This is because the field covers huge amounts of data that need to be stored on its products, Sadana said during the first artificial intelligence of Micron in San Francisco. Moreover, the announcement was made during the conference. The former investments of Micron were also publicly disclosed.

Sadana added that the newly earmarked are planned to turn as investments in both hardware and software on the development of artificial intelligence technologies by the startup companies. Micron expressed specific interests of investing in augmented and virtual reality, automation factories and self-driving car technology since the company has business in those fields, he said.

“We are going to significantly step up the pace of our investments,” Sadana said.

There would vast amounts of data and computing power in making artificial intelligence tasks recognize human speech or images. With this, the chip industry contemporaries of Micron have also invested in it. There was more than $1 billion investment made by Intel Corporation to startup companies developing artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, Nvidia Corporation operates a program regarding the usage of its chips, helping thousands of small companies.

Newertech: Huawei announces fresh AI chip to boost cloud-computing business

On Wednesday, China’s Huawei Technology Co Ltd, the world’s largest telecom-equipment maker, announced an AI chip that will enable its servers in boosting its nascent business on cloud computing.

For the first time, the telecom company will use its own chips in its servers. However, this move comes as China speeds up the development of its semiconductor market. This is amid the escalating trade stand-off with the United States that has highlighted the country’s reliance on imported technology.

China wants 40% of all smartphones in the domestic market to be placed with locally made chips inside them by 2025. Further, it is betting billions of dollars on homegrown champions to get there.