MTS unit agrees to invest $10 mln in AI chip developer Kneron

MOSCOW, Mar 26 (PRIME) -- MTS Artificial Intelligence Center, a wholly-owned unit of major Russian mobile operator MTS, has signed a definitive agreement to invest around U.S. $10 million in startup Kneron, an artificial intelligence (AI) chip developer, MTS said late on Thursday in a statement.

“Today, the world is facing a global AI chip shortage and there are only a handful of companies that produce them. According to our estimates, looking ahead we expect the global AI chip market to grow around 25% annually, which makes Kneron a particularly attractive investment,” MTS AI Center head Alexander Khanin said.

“Moreover, improving access to cutting-edge processors will enable us to speed up the development of AI-based products for the local market.

“Going forward, we plan to continue investing in promising AI-focused teams and technologies as part of our venture fund, corporate accelerator, and venture studio.”

Kneron’s state-of-the-art AI chips target edge use cases across a wide variety of smart devices — from video cameras and virtual assistants to biometric locks.

MTS said the investment will enable MTS AI to receive exclusive distribution rights in Russia for Kneron chips as well as move toward creating its own line of AI-ready products leveraging Kneron’s technology.

The Kneron group of companies is a high-tech developer and seller of hardware and software to run AI applications for smart devices at high speed and energy efficiency. The startup was founded in 2015 by engineers from leading microelectronics companies, including Qualcomm and Samsung. Kneron holds patents across its hardware and software solutions, including in chip design and compression algorithms.

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