Players in the electronics industry are busy boning up on optical computing.
An onslaught of new processors aimed at high performance computing is enabling photonics — always billed as a “next-gen” technology — to finally strut its stuff in the burgeoning AI market.
Photonic processors are no longer a curiosity. Some of them are emerging from the lab as commercial products integrated into PCIe periphery demonstrators.
The big challenge for semiconductor companies racing to offer solutions for the deployment of AI at the edge is figuring out who will bear the responsibility for shaping the future of AI application devices. Should it be the companies developing the technology or the industries applying it? STMicroelectronics isn’t waiting for an answer, though. Rather, it is adding AI capabilities to existing technologies, including MEMS.
There is no doubt about the semiconductor industry’s prevailing focus today. It is artificial intelligence (AI), but not just the kind of AI products and expectations that have propelled Nvidia Corp. into the ranks of the world’s most valuable publicly-traded enterprises.
At the recently concluded Electronica 2024 Exhibition in Munich, AI was the most prominent topic and products. AI resounded throughout the Munich Messe halls as the rallying cry for innovation, with companies across the industry spectrum pushing promises to leverage advancements in the fast-growing market.
What’s at stake: In the computing industry, artificial Intelligence has created an unprecedented industry-wide AI wave, on which everyone in the electronics sector wants to surf. This includes photonics. But, is photonic computing mature enough to convince hyperscalers to try it for at least part of their AI processing?
Photonics developers now have a fresh pitch to the AI community: By using photons for AI processing instead of solely depending on electrons, the computing industry can substantially reduce AI-induced energy gluttony at data centers.
Energy Consumption in U.S. Data Centers is Exploding (Source: International Energy Agency, Electricity 2024 Report)
Optical computing itself isn’t new. But what’s different now is that many photonic processor startups with optical computing products are scrambling to exploit the fast-growing demand for energy-efficient AI computing.
Michael Förtsch, CEO of Q.ANT, a Stuttgart, Germany-based photonic computing startup, told the Ojo-Yoshida Report: “If you’re not changing the way we compute, the energy supply for data centers is going to be the bottleneck for progress on the next big step in AI.”
Death by a thousand cuts can quickly become a reality for certain segments of the electronics industry if swift action is not taken to address the question asked in the headline of this opinion piece.
Western governments, led by the US, have amassed a growing armada of rules, regulations, laws, and sanctions aimed at limiting China’s access to IP, innovations and technologies used in the development and production of advanced technology products. In addition, laws tightening or proscribing engagement with Chinese companies have been introduced in recent years.
Ask any industry executives, though, and it would be difficult getting an answer on the precise objectives of these actions, the role their companies are expected to play, and whether they see an end in sight to the tightening rules or a future where commerce can be conducted without severe national restrictions and penalties for violating drastic rules. The industry has accepted that geopolitics have become a staple of business, but they nevertheless puzzle about how long this will be and whether their views matter anymore.
What’s at stake: RISC-V cores are quietly seeping into the MCU fabric of the global automotive market. Of course, if you are focused only on the Western market, that’s not exactly what you see today. But, as Chinese OEMs turn massively toward RISC-V, the rest of the world needs a workable Plan B.
The more powerful AI becomes, the more polarizing it gets. Some people love it, others loathe it, and there are those who are becoming increasingly fearful of what may be coming our way.
What’s at stake: Despite passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, the U.S. semiconductor industry will continue to struggle with workforce problems. Issues include the absent “pipeline” (of engineering students aspiring to the semiconductor industry), and the long “ramp up” period (as long as eighteen months) before newly hired graduates can contribute to VLSI designs. At stake is the U.S. industry’s talent level for leadership in the global electronics industry.
First some background.
Many reports from think tanks, consulting firms (Deloitte, McKinsey, Brookings) and semiconductor industry associations (SEMI, SIA), are sounding the alarm of a widening talent shortage in the U.S. chip industry.
Deloitte analysts bluntly declared that the industry is facing “looming talent cliff and low industry appeal.” This is happening despite forecasts that the industry will reach a market size of $1 trillion by 2030, driven by increasing demand for advanced chips across sectors like AI, automotive, and industrial applications.
Tenstorrent, an AI startup, scored big with a commission from the Japanese government to train at its U.S. offices up to 200 semiconductor engineers from Japan over the course of five years.
Under this “Engineering Training Program” supported by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and Japan’s Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC), selected engineers will have the opportunity to learn and work on Tenstorrernt’s cutting-edge AI/ML technology. Welcome to AI chip design school.
The program – almost two years in the making – is a brainchild spawned jointly by METI and Tenstorrent.
What’s at stake: Edge AI – or AIOT (Artificial Intelligence of Things) – on the embedded market has been a hot notion among MCU vendors for more than a few years. So, how’s it going? Will AI skate on every edge?
It’s coming, say edge AI proponents, but very slowly.
One reality that must be acknowledged is that edge AI, despite its hype, was never previously a fait accompli, nor is it today.
