Frangipani
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A fellow forum user who in recent months repeatedly referred to his brief LinkedIn exchange with Mercedes-Benz Chief Software Officer Magnus Östberg (and thereby willingly revealed his identity to all of us here on TSE, which in turn means I’m not guilty of spilling a secret with this post that should have been kept private), asked Mercedes-Benz a question in the comment section underneath the company’s latest LinkedIn post on neuromorphic computing. This time, however, he decided not to share the carmaker’s reply with all of us here on TSE. You gotta wonder why.
Could it possibly have to do with the fact that MB’s reply refutes the hypothesis he had been advancing for months, namely that Mercedes-Benz, who have been heavily promoting their future SDV (software defined vehicle) approach that gives them the option of OTA (over-the-air) updates, would “more than likely” have used Akida 2.0/TENNs simulation software in the upcoming MB.OS release as an interim solution during ongoing development until the not-yet existing Akida 2.0 silicon became available at a later stage? The underlying reason being competitive pressure to be first-to-market…
The way I see it, the January 29 reply by MB clearly puts this speculation to bed:
www.linkedin.com
Does that sound as if an MB.OS “Akida inside” reveal at the upcoming world premiere of the CLA were on the cards?
Setting aside the questions
a) about any requirements for testing and certification of car parts making up the infotainment system (being used to German/EU bureaucracy, I find it hard to believe there wouldn’t be any at all - maybe someone who is knowledgeable about automotive regulations within Germany and the EU could comment on this) and
b) whether any new MB model containing our tech could roll off the production line despite no prior IP license deal having been signed (or at least an Akida 1.0 chips sales deal; there has never been a joint development announcement either which could possibly somehow circumvent the necessity of an upfront payment showing up in our financials)….
… various MB statements in recent months (cf. Dominik Blum’s presentation at HKA Karlsruhe I shared in October: https://thestockexchange.com.au/threads/brn-discussion-ongoing.1/post-439352 - the university of applied sciences they have since confirmed to cooperate with regarding research on neuromorphic cameras, journalists quoting MB engineers after having visited their Future Technologies Lab as well as relevant posts and comments on LinkedIn) have diminished the likelihood of neuromorphic tech making its debut in any soon to be released Mercedes-Benz models.
If NC were to enhance voice control and infotainment functions in their production vehicles much sooner than safety-critical ones (ADAS), MB would surely have clarified this in their reply to the above question posed to them on LinkedIn, which specifically referred to the soon-to-be released CLA, which happens to be the first model to come with the next-generation MB.OS that also boasts the new AI-powered MBUX Virtual Assistant (developed in collaboration with Google).
Instead, they literally wrote:
“(…) To fully leverage the potential of neuromorphic processes, specialised hardware architectures that efficiently mimic biologically inspired systems are required (…) we’re currently looking into Neuromorphic Computing as part of a research project. Depending on the further development progress, integration could become possible within a timeframe of 5 to 10 years.”
They are evidently exploring full scale integration to maximise the benefits of energy efficiency, latency and privacy. The voice control implementation of Akida in the Vision EQXX was their initial proof-of-concept to demonstrate feasibility of NC in general (cf. the podcast with Steven Peters, MB’s former Head of AI Research from 2016-2022: https://thestockexchange.com.au/threads/brn-discussion-ongoing.1/post-407798). Whether they’ll eventually partner with us or a competitor (provided they are happy with their research project’s results) remains to be seen.
So I certainly do not expect the soon-to-be revealed CLA 2025 with the all-new MB.OS to have “Akida inside”, although I’d be more than happy to be proven wrong, as we’d all love to see the BRN share price soar on these news…
Time - and the financials - will ultimately tell.
Could it possibly have to do with the fact that MB’s reply refutes the hypothesis he had been advancing for months, namely that Mercedes-Benz, who have been heavily promoting their future SDV (software defined vehicle) approach that gives them the option of OTA (over-the-air) updates, would “more than likely” have used Akida 2.0/TENNs simulation software in the upcoming MB.OS release as an interim solution during ongoing development until the not-yet existing Akida 2.0 silicon became available at a later stage? The underlying reason being competitive pressure to be first-to-market…
The way I see it, the January 29 reply by MB clearly puts this speculation to bed:
The intelligent vehicle functionalities of the future call for pioneering new algorithms and hardware. | Mercedes-Benz AG
The intelligent vehicle functionalities of the future call for pioneering new algorithms and hardware. That’s why Mercedes-Benz is researching artificial neural networks that could radically increase the speed and energy efficiency of complex AI computations. This could revolutionise...
Does that sound as if an MB.OS “Akida inside” reveal at the upcoming world premiere of the CLA were on the cards?
Setting aside the questions
a) about any requirements for testing and certification of car parts making up the infotainment system (being used to German/EU bureaucracy, I find it hard to believe there wouldn’t be any at all - maybe someone who is knowledgeable about automotive regulations within Germany and the EU could comment on this) and
b) whether any new MB model containing our tech could roll off the production line despite no prior IP license deal having been signed (or at least an Akida 1.0 chips sales deal; there has never been a joint development announcement either which could possibly somehow circumvent the necessity of an upfront payment showing up in our financials)….
… various MB statements in recent months (cf. Dominik Blum’s presentation at HKA Karlsruhe I shared in October: https://thestockexchange.com.au/threads/brn-discussion-ongoing.1/post-439352 - the university of applied sciences they have since confirmed to cooperate with regarding research on neuromorphic cameras, journalists quoting MB engineers after having visited their Future Technologies Lab as well as relevant posts and comments on LinkedIn) have diminished the likelihood of neuromorphic tech making its debut in any soon to be released Mercedes-Benz models.
If NC were to enhance voice control and infotainment functions in their production vehicles much sooner than safety-critical ones (ADAS), MB would surely have clarified this in their reply to the above question posed to them on LinkedIn, which specifically referred to the soon-to-be released CLA, which happens to be the first model to come with the next-generation MB.OS that also boasts the new AI-powered MBUX Virtual Assistant (developed in collaboration with Google).
Instead, they literally wrote:
“(…) To fully leverage the potential of neuromorphic processes, specialised hardware architectures that efficiently mimic biologically inspired systems are required (…) we’re currently looking into Neuromorphic Computing as part of a research project. Depending on the further development progress, integration could become possible within a timeframe of 5 to 10 years.”
They are evidently exploring full scale integration to maximise the benefits of energy efficiency, latency and privacy. The voice control implementation of Akida in the Vision EQXX was their initial proof-of-concept to demonstrate feasibility of NC in general (cf. the podcast with Steven Peters, MB’s former Head of AI Research from 2016-2022: https://thestockexchange.com.au/threads/brn-discussion-ongoing.1/post-407798). Whether they’ll eventually partner with us or a competitor (provided they are happy with their research project’s results) remains to be seen.
So I certainly do not expect the soon-to-be revealed CLA 2025 with the all-new MB.OS to have “Akida inside”, although I’d be more than happy to be proven wrong, as we’d all love to see the BRN share price soar on these news…
Time - and the financials - will ultimately tell.