Companies Clash over AI at the Edge

In the past two years, artificial intelligence has morphed from academic marvel to global megatrend. Machine learning in some form is set to revolutionize almost everything -- consumer, automotive, industrial, every area of electronics -- and, beyond that, to affect society and our lives in ways we don't yet know about. What this means for the industry is that practically every processor vendor has identified machine learning as a goose that will lay golden eggs. The race is on to position one's own approach as the right solution to accelerate specific workloads in the area that holds the most potential: machine learning outside the data center, or AI at the edge. AI at the edge holds so much promise because it can be applied to practically every electronic device, from self-driving vehicles that see pedestrians in the road to coffee makers that respond to voice commands.