I worry that when writing these columns, I sometimes start by meandering my way off into the weeds, cogitating and ruminating on "this and that" before eventually bringing the story back home. So, on the basis that "a change is as good as a rest," as the old English proverb goes, let's do things a little differently this time. Take a look at the image below. What do you see in addition to the penny piece? What I see is a Mantis AI-in-Sensor (AIS) System-on-Chip (SoC), where the "AI" portion of this moniker stands for "artificial intelligence."

Its growth will coincide with that of the deep learning chipset market, which some analysts predict will reach $66.3 billion by 2025. There is reason for that -- edge computing is projected to make up roughly three-quarters of the total global AI chipset business in the next six years. David Schie, a former senior executive at Maxim, Micrel, and Semtech, thinks both markets are ripe for disruption. He -- along with WSI, Toshiba, and Arm veterans Robert Barker, Andreas Sibrai, and Cesar Matias -- in 2011 cofounded AIStorm, a San Jose-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup that develops chipsets that can directly process data from wearables, handsets, automotive devices, smart speakers, and other internet of things (IoT) devices. Today the startup emerged from stealth with $13.2 million in series A backing from biometrics supplier Egis Technology, imaging sensor company TowerJazz, Meyer Corporation, and Linear Dimensions Semiconductor -- all four of which say they plan to integrate the company's technology into upcoming products.