FRONTIER FIRMS

http://specialreports.theaustralian.com.au/705736/frontier-firms/

RADICAL INNOVATION
BrainChip
Technology that learns like we do
Artificial intelligence is creating alternatives to human cognition. Machine-learning firm BrainChip was conceived with the hunch that to achieve new levels of processing capability, technology might be able to copy the neural-processing pattern of the human brain. Where other field leaders such as Google, Microsoft, Intel and NVIDIA have focused on software approaches to developing artificial intelligence architecture, Brainchip founder Peter van der Made opted for a hardware solution. The purpose-built Spiking Neuron Adaptive Processor (SNAP) is faster and less energy intensive than software-based neural networks. Mimicking the way the human brain works, BrainChip’s technology learns, evolves and associates information autonomously, without needing to be trained on millions of samples. The hardware-based approach means SNAP can be used for many different applications – it is being trialled by a European law-enforcement agency and a New York school district, as well as two American casinos. Whether BrainChip’s radical deviation from the software status quo will make it one of the winners in a nascent AI industry remains to be seen.