NXP Acquires Kinara to Drive Next-Gen Edge AI Innovation
- Chinmay
- February 11, 2025
- News, Semiconductor Industry
- AI Accelerators, AI Processing, automotive AI, edge ai, Generative AI, Industrial AI, IoT AI, Kinara NPUs, Neural Processing Units, NXP Semiconductors
- 0 Comments
Expanding Edge AI Capabilities with Kinara NPUs
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Kinara, Inc., a leader in high-performance, energy-efficient, and programmable neural processing units (NPUs). These NPUs enable a diverse range of edge AI applications, including multi-modal generative AI models. The acquisition, valued at $307 million, will be an all-cash transaction and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025, pending regulatory approvals.
The growing demand for cost-effective and energy-efficient AI processing at the edge is shaping the future of intelligent systems. By enabling real-time AI decisions independent of the cloud, businesses can benefit from faster response times, enhanced data privacy, and reduced operational costs.
Strengthening NXP’s Edge AI Portfolio
Kinara’s cutting-edge NPUs and AI software deliver energy-efficient AI performance across a broad spectrum of neural networks, ranging from conventional AI to generative AI. This acquisition significantly enhances NXP’s ability to provide scalable AI platforms, covering everything from TinyML to advanced generative AI, by integrating Kinara’s discrete NPUs into NXP’s extensive processor, connectivity, security, and analog solutions portfolio.
As existing partners, NXP and Kinara already facilitate seamless integration of Kinara’s NPUs with NXP’s industrial and IoT processors. With this acquisition, the companies will enhance solution integration, providing optimized AI platforms for industrial and automotive applications.
Enabling AI-Driven Innovation
Rafael Sotomayor, EVP & GM, Secure Connected Edge at NXP, emphasized the importance of this acquisition:
“The industrial market is undergoing a transformation, with innovations like generative AI improving efficiency, sustainability, safety, and predictability. Kinara’s AI capabilities strengthen our intelligent edge portfolio, creating a scalable platform for AI-powered systems. This will help customers simplify complexity and accelerate time to market as they develop transformative AI solutions.”
Advancing Edge AI with Kinara’s Discrete NPUs
Kinara’s Ara-1 and Ara-2 NPUs lead the industry in performance and energy efficiency, making them ideal for vision, voice, and gesture-based AI applications. These NPUs leverage an advanced architecture that optimizes AI inference execution, ensuring adaptability as AI models evolve from CNNs to generative AI and beyond.
- Ara-1: First-generation discrete NPU, designed for advanced AI inferencing at the edge.
- Ara-2: Second-generation high-performance NPU, delivering up to 40 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second) while maintaining energy efficiency.
Both NPUs can be seamlessly integrated into embedded systems, including in-field system upgrades, to enhance AI capabilities. Kinara also offers a comprehensive AI software development kit (SDK) that helps optimize AI model performance and simplifies deployment. This will be integrated into NXP’s eIQ AI/ML software development environment, allowing customers to develop and deploy AI systems faster.
Showcasing Innovation at Embedded World 2025
NXP and Kinara’s latest advancements in edge AI will be showcased at Embedded World 2025 in Nuremberg. Attendees can explore the combined innovations at NXP’s Booth #4A-222 or visit NXP.com/EmbeddedWorld for more details.
