AI Chip Brings Always-On Alexa to Battery-Powered Devices

Syntiant, an Irvine, California-based startup with big name backers like Intel and Microsoft, said its custom chips could be used to push Amazon's Alexa into smaller, battery-powered devices like wearables and wireless headphones that wake themselves up when they hear the voice assistant's wake word or other commands. Amazon just approved its deep learning accelerators for use with Alexa Voice Services (AVS). The company's NDP100 can be programmed to continuously listen for 64 wake words or specific sounds--like glass breaking or a baby crying--with power consumption in the range of 150 uW and more than 100 KB of SRAM. "These chips are purpose-built for keyword spotting such as wake words like Alexa, and now our processors can be used for quickly developing voice applications in battery-powered devices," chief executive Kurt Busch said in a statement. Syntiant, which was founded by former engineering executives from Broadcom, has raised over $30 million in funding from investors including Microsoft's M12, Amazon's Alexa Fund, Applied Ventures, Intel Capital, Motorola Ventures, and Robert Bosch Venture Capital.