Development of Major Chinese AI Chip Startups

With increased complexity of AI (Artificial Intelligence) modules, AI chip performance has played a key role in the widespread adoption of AI technology and has thus become the focus of future development in the chip industry. China will not let this opportunity slip away since AI has been a key development trend in China’s industry. Apart from existing players, startups are also making a big push into AI chip development.

Backed by government policies, venture firms’ funding, and domestic market demand, startups have accumulated solid technological competencies and made significant achievements in AI applications, while continuing to develop advanced technology. This report analyzes the development of Chinese AI chip startups in terms of the background of their founders, fundraising status, product portfolios, and application areas to provide insights into Chinese vendors’ technological capabilities and deployment plans.

List of Topics :

Background of AI developments in China

Background of Chinese major AI chip startups in IP (Intellectual Property) and ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) and includes their fundraising and product types

Patent deployment strategies and application targeted by these Chinese major AI chip startups such as Unisound, Combricon, Intellifusion, Bitmain, Horizon Robotics, Chiplntelli, Canaan Creative, NextVPU, and ThinkForce.

Table of Contents

1. Background
2.Founder Background and Fundraising Status
2.1 Founder Background: Industry Experience Facilitates Product Commercialization
2.2 Fundraising Status: Several Startups Secure More than US$1 Million in Funding
3. Product Types, Patents, and Application Areas
3.1 Product Types: Focus on ASIC
3.1.1 New Computing Architecture: Focus on In-memory Computing and Neuromorphic Chips
3.1.2 ASIC: Focus on 28nm Chips for Entry-level and Mid-range Markets
3.1.3 Algorithm + ASIC: Focus on Image Recognition and Enhanced Intelligent Functions of Edge Devices
3.2 Patent Portfolio: Focus on Voice and Image Recognition
3.3 Application Areas: Focus on Security Surveillance and Smart Home
3.MIC Perspective
Appendix
Glossary of Terms
List of Companies

List of Tables

Table 1 Chinese AI Chip Startups (by Year of Establishment)
Table 2 Background of Startup Founders
Table 3 Startups’ Fundraising Status
Table 4 Chinese AI Chip Vendors by Product Type
Table 5 Chips with New Architecture by Chinese AI Chip Vendors
Table 6 Comparison of Chinese AI Chip Startups’ ASIC Chips
Table 7 Comparison of Chips by Chinese AI Chip Startups
Table 8 Applications Targeted by Chinese AI Chip Startups
List of Figures
Figure 1 Patent Counts by Company
Figure 2 Top 20 Patent Classes and Counts