Edge AI chip company Syntiant announces support for Google keywords

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Syntiant, a deep learning chip technology company, has announced that it supports Ok Google and Hey Google hotwords with the Syntiant NDP120 Neural Decision Processor (NDP).

By using the ultra-low-power Syntiant Core 2 tensor processor, the NDP120 is able to activate the Google Assistant at under 280uW (microwatts) power consumption with the hotwords, "Hey Google" or “Ok Google.”

The advanced AI built into the NDP120 delivers highly accurate, hands-free voice functionally, and can run multiple applications simultaneously with minimal battery power consumption, including speaker identification, keyword spotting, multiple wake words and local commands recognition.

“The rise of the voice assistant has come as no surprise, as more people use speech to control technology in their everyday lives, from making doctors’ appointments, changing radio stations, to setting the temperature of a home, the applications are endless,” said Kurt Busch, CEO of Syntiant. “We’ve already shipped more than 10 million of our NDP devices globally, most of which can be found in mobile phones to enable always-on-voice. With the NDP120 now supporting the Google Assistant, we’re bringing conversational intelligence to smart phones at lower cost and greater efficiency, while vastly improving the consumer experience.”

Syntiant's NDP120 brings low-power conversational AI to battery-powered consumer devices. Embedded with a user programmable HiFi-3 DSP, the NDP120 supports up to 7 audio streams and can process multiple concurrent heterogeneous networks.

The Syntiant Core 2 is a tensor processing core, built from the ground up to support energy efficient inference while keeping programming as simple as possible.

Syntiant also provides a turnkey solution for OEMs by integrating the NDP Software Development Kit into the Android's audio Hardware Abstraction Layer, enabling mobile device manufacturers to seamlessly support the Google Assistant.