JDelekto
Regular
@equanimous makes a good point that several people keep repeating that the company is making no revenue. I think that what is closer to the truth here is that the company has not yet established a revenue stream that will cover its operating costs but also bring in profits for its shareholders.
Even if a company like Microsoft, Google, or Meta were to dump a billion dollars into BrainChip, that would not be considered revenue but instead an investment in the company with the expectation that it would be profitable one day. If such an event happened, we would see the stock price rise, not because of the influx of investment funds, but the perceived value such large companies would put on the technology. There is currently a debate about whether or not OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT that received funding from both Elon Musk and Microsoft) will be able to make enough revenue to keep from going bankrupt at the end of 2024.
Sean Hehir was very transparent and honest about this upfront. He said that our revenue stream would be lumpy. As evidenced by the financial statements the company has filed over the past two years, what Sean told everyone was accurate.
From a technology perspective, neuromorphic computing is not new, but its applications and marketability have been dubious to those in the AI community who have researched the technology. BrainChip, and a couple of other competitors in the neuromorphic space, such as Sysense and Quadric, are marketing a technology that has not yet been accepted as mainstream.
AI accelerators such as Intel's Movidius and Nvidia's GPUs have been crunching numbers for CNNs for years. They are solutions that are "good enough," at least until a better technology surfaces. Neuromorphic processors seem to be a new and disruptive solution that provides several benefits over traditional CNNs, but it does require market adoption. BrainChip's inclusion of CNN to SNN conversion provides the 'adapter' easing those using the earlier technology over to the newer platform.
I have no expectation BrainChip will earn the revenues it needs to keep the lights on over the first few years its product has been introduced to the market. I expect more IP sales to come as they listen to all customers' needs and adapt their IP offerings accordingly. I prefer these to be "quality" IP engagements, where those who integrate BrainChip's Akida technology will sell their products to many customers in several different markets.
Even if this initial revenue stream is "lumpy" and still not enough to cover BrainChip's operating costs, as long as the stream continues and trends upwards, I will be confident that I have made a wise investment.
I attended a Developer's Conference early this year where presentations were given on Generative AI and Machine Learning. Presenters were using Nvidia GPUs for running machine learning scenarios. I asked two presenters if they ever heard of BrainChip's Akida (which they did not) and explained that it was a neuromorphic processor. Surprisingly, both had stated there was ongoing research into neuromorphics.
Neither of these individuals knew of BrainChip, nor that they had already commercialized their IP. With Mercedes' announcement of the Vision EQXX at CES 2022, BrainChip and Akida are still relatively unknown in the mainstream.
I am considering crafting a presentation for DevCon in 2024, where I think Akida's one-shot learning and inferencing will elicit some wows from the audience, even if its technology has been commercially available for the past two years.
