While we may have every reason to believe that Akida is the superior technology, we should not resort to making factually incorrect statements about Brainchip’s competitors:
True, automotive takes a long time, but no, they are not starting to explore only now - they announced their partnership in mid-April 2022, so that was more than 1.5 years ago.
Also, the announcement about the SynSense-BMW partnership was primarily about smart cockpits and not about LiDAR only. That’s why I compared it to MB (‘Hey, Mercedes!’) and not to Valeo.
While the article I quoted (which I had picked as one of the most recent ones I could find about SynSense + BMW) does indeed literally say “to explore the integration of their brain-like chips into smart cockpits”, I have since double-checked the news around the original press release (which strangely I cannot find anywhere) that consistently quote the partnership announcement being about
advancing the integration of neuromorphic chips into smart cockpits and exploring related fields with BMW. (See for example Sally Ward-Foxton referring to the partnership in her “Cars That Think Like You” EETimes article)
That’s also the wording I recall. So it sounds as if they had in fact already collaborated quite a bit regarding smart cockpits before announcing their partnership, similar to Valeo and Brainchip having been involved months before announcing their partnership.
Also not true.
“SynSense focuses on the commercialization of neuromorphic intelligence, based on 20+ years of world-leading experience of University of Zürich and ETH Zürich. Centering on edge computing applications, SynSense provides ultra-low power consumption, ultra-low latency inference ASICs
and IP blocks, as well as full-stack application development services, and is globally the only neuromorphic technology company that involves both sensing and computing.”
SynSense focuses on neuromorphic intelligence and takes the lead in commercialization of neuromorphic chips; SynSense provides application solutions and services.
www.synsense.ai
Again, factually incorrect: You are comparing apples and oranges. Your juxtaposition probably refers to some other SynSense chip, but definitely not to the
DYNAP-CNN (which is the one involved in the partnership with Prophesee), which according to their website has
up to 1 million neurons. No mention of synapses, I am afraid. But up to 1000 x more neurons than you claimed!
DYNAP™-CNN is world's first fully scalable, event-driven neuromorphic processor with 1M configurable spiking neurons and direct interface with external DVS.
www.synsense.ai
“DYNAP™-CNN, a fully scalable, event-driven neuromorphic processor, redefines sensory processing. With up to 1M configurable spiking neurons and a direct interface with external DVS, this technology is ideal for ultra-low power, ultra-low latency event-driven applications.”
It is not my intention to spruik a competitor’s product here, but when making statements about competitors or their products, we - me included, of course - should stick to the facts and possibly fact-check before posting.
And also accept the reality that Brainchip will never have 100 % of the market share.
On a more positive note: BMW having partnered with SynSense in 2022 does not automatically exclude BMW also exploring things with Brainchip, if you ask me. Right now (behind an NDA) or in the future.
so there will be a market for that product I’m sure.
