Samsung will integrate artificial intelligence in its appliances by adding a special chip to them directly.
The Korean electronics giants says it is developing a neural processing unit chip that is both ultra-low energy and is capable of generative AI on-device.
“With the goal of making smarter home appliances, the tech giant will also adopt generative AI technology for Bixby, its voice assistant,” The Korea Herald reports.
“The AI home appliances we envision should be closely connected with each other, and make the best decisions for users by analysing the surrounding environment on their own and studying user patterns,” says Yoo Mi-young, vice president of Samsung’s home appliances division, told the Herald.
Neural processing units or NPU can perform machine learning tasks and have been around about a decade, with Google a trailblazer with its Tensor Processing Unit in 2017.
Samsung itself has been developing NPU’s for several years.
The new initiative brings the capability to appliances directly. Smart home devices that connect to Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple’s Siri will soon be able to handle generative AI-type conversations with an owner at network level, but Samsung’s initiative suggests it wants to handle AI capability at an appliance level.
Samsung made the announcement at the IFA 2023 technology show in Berlin.
