Samsung To Foster Neural Processing Unit

Samsung Electronics will foster its neural processing unit (NPU) capabilities as part of its goal to secure leadership in logic chip businesses by 2030, the company has announced.

The South Korean conglomerate said the technology will be key in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) and that it will create 2,000 related jobs in the area, 10 times the amount it is hiring currently.

NPU is a processor optimised for deep learning algorithms. Samsung's System LSI Business, its logic chip division, and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, the conglomerate's long-term research and development arm, developed their own chip which was first commercialised last year on its Exynos 9820 SoC. 

Samsung said it will expand the application of the technology later to data centres and the Internet of Things (IoT). NPUs will later also power the company's in-vehicle infotainment and advanced assistance systems, it said.

The ultimate goal will be to develop neuromorphic processors -- chips with processing power equivalent to the human brain.

The company will also expand upon its existing collaboration with globally distinguished research institutes and universities in AI, it also added.

In April, Samsung announced that it would invest 133 trillion won into its logic chip businesses by 2030 and create 15,000 new jobs in the area.

Last month, the company announced that it was expanding its AI lab in Montreal, Canada.

The president of System LSI Business, Inyup Kang, last year told ZDNet that 5G would provide it with unimaginable business opportunities for the firm going forward.

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