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Jul 20, 2020

Kneron Announces KNEO — An Edge AI Platform That Democratizes and Personalizes AI for All

Taipei, Taiwan, July 20th, 2020 — Kneron, the San Diego-based edge AI solutions provider backed by the likes of Horizons Ventures, Alibaba, Sequoia, and Qualcomm, today announces the biggest ever advancement in personal consumer AI.
Kneron developed the KNEO edge AI open platform to enable AI to be accessible, personal, and private. Any device running a Kneron AI system on chip (SoC) can become a building block for the KNEO AI open-platform which democratizes AI to consumers and small organizations.
  1. KNEO uses Kneron-powered devices to build mesh intelligence, allowing collective AI processing and inferencing to happen locally across multiple devices without the cloud. Blockchain security is built through the KNEO mesh of devices so that your data truly is secure and under your control.
  2. KNEO also creates an open-platform AI ecosystem that empowers AI app developers, consumers, small-medium sized enterprises (SME), and service providers to define and develop the future of personalized AI together. 
  3. Paired with Kneron’s AI accelerator––the KNEO stem, the platform makes the development and installation of AI so easy that SMEs and students can leverage AI to their benefit without requiring advanced technical experience.

AI that Benefits Everyone
KNEO’s vision is to bring the potential of AI to benefit anyone and any type of organization. Currently, AI’s development is mainly being shaped by the biggest global corporations that not only mold its development; they also stand to benefit the most from its transformative power. By keeping the AI inference locally on the edge, and by opening up edge AI app development to anyone and any organization, KNEO will democratize AI into the hands of the people.

At present, KNEO’s AI open-platform is already helping universities around the world to spur on the growth of AI app development for today’s world. Through textbooks co-authored by Kneron’s CEO Albert Liu, and paired with Kneron-powered AI module accelerator, named KNEO Stem, students learn to take basic AI models and create AI applications that can be uploaded onto the KNEO AI app store. Major schools in the US that have committed to adding edge AI app development to their curriculums include UCLA, Notre Dame, and the University of Virginia. Major schools in Hong Kong and Taiwan have also signed on for this curriculum as well.

Developers and hobbyists can build apps for KNEO using just a KNEO Stem and a Raspberry Pi or any sensor with a USB port to develop, upload, and download AI apps to and from the KNEO AI platform. KNEO Stems will be the first devices through which consumers and developers can experience the power of KNEO. These apps can be downloaded and bought through the marketplace, allowing developers to build a user base and monetize their work.

Small businesses or non-profit organizations that could not otherwise afford to tap into the power of AI can do so through KNEO, which significantly lowers the cost of developing and implementing AI. Thus, the platform revives smaller or older companies, and refreshes industries––such as retail and utilities––that stand to benefit from AI.

The Technology Behind the Platform
KNEO combines edge AI devices with blockchain technology to deliver a secure, private mesh network that allows users to connect their KNEO Stems (such as AI modules, cameras, microphones, thermal sensors, etc) together in a sensor fusion. Just as all your senses work together to enhance your understanding of the world, so does sensor fusion increase the accuracy and power of edge AI over single sensor devices. All this can be done without an internet connection––no cloud required. Data stays in your control and is stored locally on your device and network. They are cryptographically secured on your own private blockchain, ensuring your personal AI network is impenetrable. There will be no big tech spying on you.

KNEO will also introduce an AI app store, a first-of-its-kind marketplace leveraging the open source developer community and aforementioned university students to populate it with AI apps that are built on basic AI models that are publicly available. Through KNEO’s platform, users will also be able to turn their data into digital assets stored on the blockchain. They can take control of their data and sell it or trade it on their terms, taking control away from big tech.

Albert Liu, CEO of Kneron, says: “Kneron was founded to spread AI everywhere and personalize it for everyone. Too much AI in the world is built with a tech-first, consumer second approach, creating issues around privacy and security for consumers, and accessibility for device makers.. Kneron’s mission is to change this and pioneer true AI adoption into the future. As mobile computing became ubiquitous, our vision is to make common personal mobile AI. With KNEO, we are democratizing AI into the hands of all for the benefit of all.”

KNEO Stems build personal, private and secure mesh intelligence
KNEO Stems are the key to unlocking the KNEO AI platform. For example, you can connect a KNEO stem to a security camera and another to a door lock to allow tailgating detection. As two people approach the door––one trailing behind the other––the KNEO Stem linked to the door lock will recognize the face of the first person as an authorized user. Simultaneously, the KNEO stem linked to the security camera will detect that there were actually two persons at the door, preventing access as it detects an unauthorized tailgater. This mesh intelligence and communication are only possible through KNEO.

In another use case, imagine that after a doctor's visit, a KNEO user has been prescribed a health monitoring AI app and a fitness AI app that our user installs onto his KNEO Stems at home. The health app monitors the user’s health data (e.g. heart rate, diet, sleep, lifestyle, etc) while the fitness app guides him to follow a workout regimen at home (e.g. daily stretching, meditation, aerobics, etc). His KNEO Stem devices all work together to monitor and manage both sides of the doctor's prescriptions and regularly reports to the doctor as a post-visit preventive care solution. This is the potential power of KNEO, personalizing AI into our daily lives. To learn more about the platform, visit the KNEO website.

--ENDS--

About Kneron
Kneron is a San Diego based technology company that was founded in 2015. It develops both hardware and software products, which are used in smart devices to run and power AI applications. Kneron is a single port of call for device manufacturers who want to integrate AI into their products. The products include hardware such as AI chips and software such as AI models, that device manufacturers can use in everything from autonomous cars, all the way down to a smart fridge, doorbell, or any Internet of Things device. Kneron primarily solves three main problems for smart devices running AI — security, energy and cost, thereby enabling AI everywhere and for everyone. Kneron’s solutions are reconfigurable, and will be as efficient at processing image and audio AI models in the future as they are now. It has raised over $70mn to date and is backed by Horizons Ventures, Alibaba, Qualcomm, Sequoia, SparkLabs Taipei, and more. For further information about Kneron, please visit: http://www.kneron.com/about.php
KNEO - personal, mobile edge AI ecosystem for everyone | Kneron – Full Stack Edge AI
KNEO - personal, mobile edge AI ecosystem for everyone | Kneron – Full Stack Edge AI

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