< Back 5 most promising Fintech startups Jess Wilder 17 Mar 2023 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Previous Next

At Times Foresight, we are dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations with innovative solutions and insights that shape a better future. Our mission is to blend cutting-edge technology with forward-thinking strategies to address the challenges of today and unlock the opportunities of tomorrow. Whether it's through data-driven approaches, industry expertise, or creative problem-solving, we strive to deliver exceptional value and foster long-term growth. With a passionate team and a commitment to excellence, Times Foresight is your trusted partner in navigating an ever-evolving world. Working With the Partners Dear Readers, Welcome to TimesForesight It is with immense pride and excitement that I introduce you to our magazine-a platform dedicated to delivering meaningful insights and fostering a deeper understanding of the world around us. In today’s fast-evolving landscape, staying informed is not enough; we must also think ahead. At TimesForesight, our mission is to provide content that not only informs but also inspires action, innovation, and progress. Every story we publish reflects our commitment to quality, integrity, and the pursuit of knowledge that empowers our readers to make informed decisions. This magazine is more than just a publication; it’s a journey—a journey we embark on along with you. Your support and engagement drive us to constantly innovate and grow. Thank you for being a part of the TimesForesight family. Here’s to shaping the future, one story at a time. Warm regards, Co-founder & CEO TimesForesight Get to Know Us TimesForesight was born from a shared vision to create a magazine that goes beyond information, offering insights and perspectives that inspire action. As entrepreneurs driven by curiosity and a passion for storytelling, we saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between knowledge and foresight. Our journey began with a simple goal: To craft a publication that empowers readers to navigate the present while preparing for the future. With dedication, creativity, and a commitment to quality, we’ve built TimesForesight as a platform where ideas, stories, and innovation come together to shape a better tomorrow. Contact Us

< Back Swiatek was 'scared' of reaction after doping ban 27 Dec 2024 Iga Swiatek looks into the distance during a match Iga Swiatek was "scared" of a hostile reaction to her doping ban and says she does not expect an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) after serving a one-month suspension. Five-time major winner Swiatek, 23, tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in August, when she was world number one. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that the test result was caused by contamination and Swiatek's short suspension ended on 4 December. Men's world number one Jannik Sinner did not receive a ban after failing two tests in March and Wada has appealed against that decision - but Swiatek said she does not see "any reason" for a similar outcome in her case. On the possibility of a Wada appeal, Swiatek said: "I was suspended for a long time and I lost [world] number one because of that. I also know how the procedure worked and I gave every possible evidence. "There is not much, honestly, to do more. So I'm not expecting an appeal, but I have no influence on what's going to happen." The ITIA accepted that Swiatek's positive test was caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription medication melatonin, manufactured and sold in Poland, which Swiatek took for jet lag and sleep issues. Swiatek's level of fault was found to be at the lowest end of the range for 'no significant fault or negligence'. The Pole missed three tournaments - the Korea Open, China Open and Wuhan Open - during her suspension. She was also forced to forfeit her prize money from the Cincinnati Open, the tournament that directly followed the test. Speaking at a news conference before the season-opening United Cup in Australia, the four-time French Open winner addressed the media and public's reaction to her suspension for the first time. Swiatek said: "I think their response has been more positive than I thought. "I think most people are understanding and the ones who read the documents and are aware of how the system works know that I had no fault and I had no influence on what was going on. "Overall the reaction, in Poland basically because this is mostly what I read, has been pretty supportive. I really, really appreciate that, because even when I missed the China swing and nobody knew why, it wasn't so easy. "I was scared that most people were going to turn their back on me. But I felt the support and it's great. Obviously there are going to be some negative comments and you're not going to avoid that. I just have to accept that and I don't really care about those, honestly."Italian Sinner still faces the threat of a possible suspension following his positive test for the anabolic steroid clostebol after Wada launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas). Swiatek and Sinner will start among the favourites for the year's first Grand Slam, with the Australian Open beginning in Melbourne on 12 January. While Sinner won the men's title in January, Swiatek has never gone beyond the semi-finals at Melbourne Park and lost to Linda Noskova in the third round of the 2024 tournament. Previous Next

< Back Mapping the nanoscale architecture of functional materials Source: Paul Scherrer Institute A new X-ray technique reveals the 3D orientation of ordered material structures at the nanoscale, allowing new insights into material functionality Researchers have pioneered a new technique at the Swiss Light Source SLS called X-ray linear dichroic orientation tomography, which probes the orientation of a material's building blocks at the nanoscale in three-dimensions. First applied to study a polycrystalline catalyst, the technique allows the visualisation of crystal grains, grain boundaries and defects -- key factors determining catalyst performance. Beyond catalysis, the technique allows previously inaccessible insights into the structure of diverse functional materials, including those used in information technology, energy storage and biomedical applications. The researchers present their method in Nature . Zoom in to the micro or nanostructure of functional materials, both natural and humanmade, and you'll find they consist of thousands upon thousands of coherent domains or grains -- distinct regions where molecules and atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern.Such local ordering is inextricably linked to the material properties. The size, orientation, and distribution of grains can make the difference between a sturdy brick or a crumbling stone; it determines the ductility of metal, the efficiency of electron transfer in a semiconductor, or the thermal conductivity of ceramics. It is also an important feature of biological materials: collagen fibres, for example, are formed from a network of fibrils and their organisation determines the biomechanical performance of connective tissue. These domains are often tiny: tens of nanometres in size. And it is their arrangement in three-dimensions over extended volumes that is property-determining. Yet until now, techniques to probe the organisation of materials at the nanoscale have largely been confined to two-dimensions or are destructive in nature. Now, using X-rays generated by the Swiss Light Source SLS, a collaborative team of researchers from Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, ETH Zurich, the University of Oxford and the Max Plank Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids have succeeded in creating an imaging technique to access this information in three-dimensions. "We not only look inside, but with nanoscale resolution" Their technique is known as X-ray linear dichroic orientation tomography, or XL-DOT for short. XL-DOT uses polarised X-rays from the Swiss Light Source SLS, to probe how materials absorb X-rays differently depending on the orientation of structural domains inside. By changing the polarisation of the X-rays, while rotating the sample to capture images from different angles, the technique creates a three-dimensional map revealing the internal organisation of the material. The team applied their method to a chunk of vanadium pentoxide catalyst about one micron in diameter, used in the production of sulfuric acid. Here, they could identify minute details in the catalyst`s structure including crystalline grains, boundaries where grains meet, and changes in the crystal orientation. They also identified topological defects in the catalyst. Such features directly affect the activity and stability of catalysts, so knowledge of this structure is crucial in optimising performance.Importantly, the method achieves high spatial resolution. Because X-rays have a short wavelength, the method can resolve structures just tens of nanometres in size, aligning with the sizes of features such as the crystalline grains. "Linear dichroism has been used to measure anisotropies in materials for many years, but this is the first time it has been extended to 3D. We not only look inside, but with nanoscale resolution," says Valerio Scagnoli, Senior Scientist in the Mesoscopic Systems, a joint group between PSI and ETH Zurich. "This means that we now have access to information that was not previously visible, and we can achieve this in small but representative samples, several micrometres in size." Leading the way with coherent X-rays Although the researchers first had the idea for XL-DOT in 2019, it would take another five years to put it into practice. Together with complex experimental requirements, a major hurdle was extracting the three-dimensional map of crystal orientations from terabytes of raw data. This mathematical puzzle was overcome with the development of a dedicated reconstruction algorithm by Andreas Apseros, first author of the study, during his doctoral studies at PSI, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The researchers believe that their success in developing XL-DOT is in part thanks to the long-term commitment to developing expertise with coherent X-rays at PSI, which led to unprecedented control and instrument stability at the coherent Small Angle X-ray Scattering (cSAXS) beamline: critical for the delicate measurements.This is an area that is set to leap forwards after the SLS 2.0 upgrade: "Coherence is where we're really set to gain with the upgrade," says Apseros. "We're looking at very weak signals, so with more coherent photons, we'll have more signal and can either go to more difficult materials or higher spatial resolution." A way into the microstructure of diverse materials Given the non-destructive nature of XL-DOT, the researchers foresee operando investigations of systems such as batteries as well as catalysts. "Catalyst bodies and cathode particles in batteries are typically between ten and fifty micrometres in size, so this is a reasonable next step," says Johannes Ihli, formerly of cSAXS and currently at the University of Oxford, who led the study. Yet the new technique is not just useful for catalysts, the researchers emphasise. It is useful for all types of materials that exhibit ordered microstructures, whether biological tissues or advanced materials for information technology or energy storage. Indeed, for the research team, the scientific motivation lies with probing the three-dimensional magnetic organisation of materials. An example is the orientation of magnetic moments within antiferromagnetic materials. Here, the magnetic moments are aligned in alternating directions when going from atom to atom. Such materials maintain no net magnetisation when measured at a distance, yet they do possess local order in the magnetic structure, a fact that is appealing for technological applications such as faster and more efficient data processing. "Our method is one of the only ways to probe this orientation," says Claire Donnelly, group leader Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden who, since carrying out her doctoral work in the Mesoscopic Systems group has maintained a strong collaboration with the team at PSI. It was during this doctoral work that Donnelly together with the same team at PSI published in Nature a method to carry out magnetic tomography using circularly polarised X-rays (in contrast to XL-DOT, which uses linearly polarised X-rays). This has since been implemented in synchrotrons around the world. With the groundwork for XL-DOT laid, the team hope that it will, in a similar way to its circularly polarised sibling, become a widely used technique at synchrotrons. Given the much wider range of samples that XL-DOT is relevant to and the importance of structural ordering to material performance, the impact of this latest method may be expected to be even greater. "Now that we've overcome many of the challenges, other beamlines can implement the technique. And we can help them to do it," adds Donnelly. Previous Next

< Back Gadget review: release of new Airy Pods Daniel Williams 21 Mar 2023 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Previous Next

< Back Will the ILA strike in January? Experts weigh in. Will the ILA strike in January? Experts weigh in. Industry observers have differing views on the likelihood of a strike, which would add to the logistics hurdles shippers are already facing. With less than a month before the International Longshoremen’s Association’s contract with the United States Maritime Alliance is set to expire, shippers want to know: Will there be a strike? A major development in the prolonged negotiations occurred last week when President-elect Donald Trump voiced his support for the ILA’s stance against automation at the ports following a meeting with union leadership. That hasn’t yet led to a new contract, with concerns over another strike growing as the Jan. 15 expiration date for a tentative deal struck in October approaches. “All in all, the situation points in the direction of another strike,” Lars Jensen, CEO at Vespucci Maritime, said in a LinkedIn post the week before Trump met with the ILA. A strike would pile on to several other geopolitical issues shippers are looking out for in 2025, including tariff threats from TrumpJensen and other logistics and maritime experts shared their take on whether the ILA will strike in January through a series of interviews, emails and LinkedIn posts. Dive in to learn about the negotiation’s sticking points and potential risks. Previous Next

< Back Dive Brief DHL Supply Chain deploys Volvo autonomous trucks in Texas The logistics company is using the technology along two routes in the state as it seeks to increase freight capacity. DHL Supply Chain’s move to launch autonomous trucking is aimed at increasing freight capacity and optimizing supply chain efficiencies as the company aligns with digital transformation across the logistics sector. The company is focusing on Texas to start. “It’s an important state in trucking: it moves more freight than any other state in the U.S and is also strategically located,” Gillespie said. The logistics company also has a large warehouse footprint in Texas and serves several customers in the region as well, Gillespie said. Other companies also aim to deploy AV operations in the state. Transportation company Ryder System and Kodiak Robots planned to launch autonomous trucks without human operators in Texas this year. Driver shortages, increased freight demand and long transit times are additional hurdles DHL Supply Chain hopes to tackle with autonomous trucking, according to Gillespie. “We believe that through autonomous transport solutions, we can address these challenges and pave the way for a safe, sustainable, and efficient future in which autonomous trucking will play an important role,” Gillespie said. The transition to autonomous trucks in the transportation industry still faces a long road, particularly when it comes to insurance considerations, experts told Trucking Dive. “Plenty of questions remain unanswered, like whether premiums will go up or down, how risk will be assessed, and who or what is to blame in a crash,” Timothy Good, president of Good’s Insurance Agency said. Previous Next

< Back Entering a new era of IoT Derek Wells 18 Mar 2023 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Previous Next

< Back Smallest molecular machine: Reversible sliding motion in ammonium-linked ferrocene Source: Chiba University Researchers stabilized ferrocene molecules on a flat substrate for the first time, creating an electronically controllable sliding molecular machine Artificial molecular machines, nanoscale machines consisting of a few molecules, offer the potential to transform fields involving catalysts, molecular electronics, medicines, and quantum materials. These machines operate by converting external stimuli, like electrical signals, into mechanical motion at the molecular level. Ferrocene, a special drum-shaped molecule composed of an iron (Fe) atom sandwiched between two five-membered carbon rings, is a promising foundational molecule for molecular machinery. Its discovery earned the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1973, and it has since become a cornerstone in the study of molecular machines. What makes ferrocene so appealing is its unique property: A change in the electronic state of the Fe ion, from Fe+2 to Fe+3, causes its two carbon rings to rotate by about 36° around the central molecular axis. Controlling this electronic state by an external electrical signal could enable precisely controlled molecular rotation. However, a major hurdle in its practical application is that it readily decomposes when adsorbed onto the surface of substrates, especially flat noble metal substrates, near room temperature, even under ultra-high vacuum conditions. A definitive method for anchoring isolated ferrocene molecules on a surface without decomposition has not been found, until now.In a groundbreaking study, a research team led by Associate Professor Toyo Kazu Yamada from the Graduate School of Engineering at Chiba University, Japan, including Professor Peter Krüger from the Faculty of Engineering at Chiba University, Professor Satoshi Kera of the Institute for Molecular Science, Japan, and Professor Masaki Horie of National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, has finally overcome this challenge. They have successfully created the world's smallest electrically controlled molecular machine. "In this study, we successfully stabilized and adsorbed ferrocene molecules onto a noble metal surface by pre-coating it with a two-dimensional crown ether molecular film. This is the first direct experimental evidence of ferrocene-based molecular motion at the atomic scale," remarks Prof. Yamada. Their findings were published in the journal Small on November 30, 2024. To stabilize the ferrocene molecules, the team first modified them by adding ammonium salts, forming ferrocene ammonium salts (Fc-amm). This improved durability and ensured that the molecules could be securely fixed to the surface of the substrate. These new molecules were then anchored onto a monolayer film made up of crown ether cyclic molecules, which were placed on a flat copper substrate. Crown ether cyclic molecules have a unique structure with a central ring that can hold a variety of atoms, molecules, and ions. Prof. Yamada explains, "Previously, we found that crown ether cyclic molecules can form a monolayer film on flat metal substrates. This monolayer trap the ammonium ions of Fc-amm molecules in the central ring of crown ether molecules, preventing the decomposition of ferrocene by acting as a shield against the metal substrate."Next, the team placed a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) probe on top of the Fc-amm molecule and applied an electrical voltage, which caused a lateral sliding motion of the molecules. Specifically, on applying a voltage of −1.3 volts, a hole (vacant space left by an electron) enters the electronic structure of the Fe ion, switching it from Fe2+ to Fe3+ state. This triggered the rotation of the carbon rings accompanied by a lateral sliding motion of the molecule. Density functional theory calculations showed that this lateral sliding motion occurs due to the Coulomb repulsion between the positively charged Fc-amm ions. Importantly, on removing the voltage, the molecule returns to its original position, demonstrating that the motion is reversible and can be precisely controlled using electrical signals. "This study opens exciting possibilities for ferrocene-based molecular machinery. Their ability to perform specialized tasks at the molecular level can lead to revolutionary innovations across many scientific and industrial fields, including precision medicine, smart materials, and advanced manufacturing," says Prof. Yamada, highlighting the potential applications of their technology. Previous Next

< Back A $6.2m banana, a crypto empire and Trump's potential conflicts 9 Dec 2024 Not long after buying and publicly consuming a $6.2m banana as part of an artworld stunt, Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun made another eye-catching purchase, investing $30m ($23.5m) into a cryptocurrency firm called World Liberty Financial. The company had foundered since its October launch, investors seemingly leery of its prospects and its terms. But it boasted a potentially enticing feature: the chance to do business with a firm partnering with and promoted by none other than Donald Trump. Mr Sun's investment tipped the company over the threshold that allowed the president-elect to begin profiting from the venture. Trump and his family are now in the position to collect roughly $20m - and potentially far more. Mr Sun, who is currently fighting fraud charges in the US related to his own crypto business, did not respond to questions about what prompted his interest in the tokens, which cannot be traded. But the episode set off alarm bells among government ethics experts, who see it as an indication that Trump's expanding business ventures have made it easier than ever for those hoping to influence US policy to steer money his way. "The conflicts have grown substantially with the scope of his business empire," said Richard Painter, who served as the White House's chief ethics lawyer during the George W Bush administration. In his first term, "President Trump removed himself from his multi-billion-dollar real estate empire to run for office and forewent his government salary," Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. "Unlike most politicians, President Trump didn't get into politics for profit – he's fighting because he loves the people of this country and wants to make America great again." But Trump has taken little action in response to concerns about the potential for corruption, or appearance of it, as he prepares for a return to the White House. New opportunities Trump has faced questions about conflicts of interest before. During his first term as president, the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC became a symbol of the issue, as a go-to place for lobbyists, foreign diplomats, and allies to stay and spend. Critics argued that the hotel created a way for Trump to profit indirectly from his office. He faced accusations and lawsuits alleging he violated the US Constitution's ban on presidents receiving foreign emoluments – or profiting from their office. But experts said the growth of his business empire, which now includes a publicly traded social media company, a cryptocurrency firm, and ties to a Saudi-backed golf league, makes it possible for anyone hoping to curry favour to move money more quietly and in much greater sums. "The scale has increased and the ease has increased," said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University, who has studied Trump Media, which operates Truth Social and currently represents the bulk of Trump's $6bn fortune. "You can only book so many hotel rooms." On Truth Social, for example, Prof Ohlrogge said a foreign government or business could purchase ads convincing investors the firm was gaining traction, prompting a pop in its share price. Though Trump Media commands a market value of more than $7bn, there has been little sign of such activity so far. The company reported less than $5m in ad sales this year. But given the stock market's "amplifying" effect, Prof Ohlrogge said it would not require a lot of spending to lead to potentially significant gains for Trump, who owns more than half the shares of the company. "His pro-crypto stance" Nowhere is the entanglement between Trump's business interests and his public duties as stark as in the crypto industry, where he has deepened his personal involvement, while simultaneously promising to champion it while in the White House. His plans include regulatory rollback and ideas such as a national Bitcoin reserve, in which the government would stockpile the cryptocurrency. "One of the most important issues to be determined over the next couple years is how crypto is regulated," said Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel at the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "Well now, he's an active player in the crypto market. How it could be regulated [could] affect his personal wealth, what kind of position he takes." Nik Bhatia, founder of Bitcoin Layer, a firm that advocates investments in Bitcoin, said it would be a mistake to dismiss Trump's stance on crypto as driven only by his own financial interests. "I don't see these moves motivated by self-interest - I see them representing the electorate," he said. But still, he said: "I think there probably is a conflict of interest in that his pro-crypto stance will benefit his company. Previous Next

< Back Long-term benefits of clean energy sources Kim Jennings 20 Mar 2023 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Previous Next

< Back Blumind Hints at Big Chip on Roadmap 7 Dec 2024 MUNICH, Germany – Analog AI chip company Blumind showed off test silicon for its keyword spotting chip, which uses 10 nJ per inference, at electronica 2024. MUNICH, Germany – Analog AI chip company Blumind showed off test silicon for its keyword spotting chip, which uses 10 nJ per inference, at electronica 2024. “What’s been particularly gratifying is that over the last year, there’s been more pull than us pushing, people have been coming to us specifically asking for analog AI solutions because they believe something new needs to happen, and this is the only realistic path that could get to production,” Blumind co-founder Niraj Mathur told EE Times. Wearable devices are top of the list of target applications, but customers are also coming to Blumind with applications like automotive and healthcare in mind. One customer wanted to built a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) with an accelerometer to calculate details of road conditions. “It’s great for an autonomous vehicle if it can tell whether it’s driving on snow, ice, gravel or whatever,” Mathur said. “They need extreme power efficiency because it’s sitting in the tire, it’s got to last the lifetime of the tire, you don’t want to open up the tire to change the battery. That’s a great use case for us.” Another potential customer wanted to detect signals from the heart to look for anomalies, with the sensor inside a pacemaker and powered by energy harvesting from the movement of surrounding muscles. This application had only a couple of hundred of nanoWatts power budget, Mathur said Blumind’s first product, an analog keyword spotting chip, now has a production version that the company is working on with a large lead customer for a wearable device. It should reach full volume production next year, and will come in a standalone chip format or as a small chiplet, which would work well in the same package as an MCU, Mathur said. “[Chiplets] are the other avenue of integration for our customers, which is very appealing for a lot of the MCU guys, who you might think we compete with, but we don’t,” he said. “They offer a fully programmable MCU solution with bells and whistles, while we are focused on always-on AI. They can integrate us as a chiplet into their MCU package.” The company is exploring this option with some MCU makers, he added. Blumind uses a single transistor for its analog multiply-accumulate scheme . The transistor stores a weight, which is multiplied by an input signal. Charge is then accumulated on a capacitor. A proprietary scheme measures the resulting charge and generates an output proportional to it, which represents the activation. Calculations are ratiometric, meaning the scheme is insensitive to process, voltage and temperature. Blumind refers to its architecture as configurable, rather than fully programmable. “This is an ASSP, not an ASIC,” Mathur said. “We have a certain amount of resources that we decide at tape out, so we target a certain set of applications, a certain zoo of models, and we give you some knobs to modify that.” The keyword spotting chip—which aids sensor applications (time-series data)—supports up to 0.5 MB of parameters on-chip, but this can be arranged as three parallel networks of five layers each, or a single network with 15 layers, per Mathur’s example. Customers have the flexibility to update weights in the network, which is sufficient for most use cases.This level of flexibility does not extend to convolutional neural networks (CNNs) commonly used in vision applications, which will require a different tape out. Blumind’s second chip will be optimized for vision CNNs on data from cameras, lidars or ultrasonic sensors, and it will inference models with around 10 MB of parameters maximum. This chip is under development and due in production in 2026. Beyond that, Mathur said, the technology has significant potential for scaling up. He envisions a much bigger, multi-die chip with space for hundreds of megabytes or a gigabyte of parameters, like a small LLM. “That’s on the roadmap, that’s got a lot of interest,” he said. “We are pursuing it, but we don’t want to get too far ahead of the use cases, which are still unclear…it’s unclear whether extreme efficiency is needed or where it will be needed. Those devices haven’t emerged yet.” This larger device could be a multi-die chiplet solution, but in analog—so without external memory or high-speed buses and clocks (Blumind’s architecture is asynchronous/event-based). Simple wire bonds can be used in place of more expensive interconnects, which are relatively cheap, he said. Overall, 1000 TOPS/W is within reach. This hypothetical device could feature more programmability, if the market demands it. The company is also working with partners on compression technologies for LLMs. Because Blumind’s analog technology uses older process nodes, it is relatively cheap to tape out new chips, and the architecture tiles easily, Mathur said. “The rationale pushing us to multi-die is kind of similar to digital, but the way we implement it is completely different,” he said. “The technologies and the price point we need to deliver this solution is way lower than the digital guys.” Blumind’s current technology benefits from staying in the analog domain—where the sensor data originates—so ADCs are not needed. Could the same power efficiency be expected for digital data fed into an analog LLM accelerator? “For the tiny networks, having the analog sensor input is very valuable at the system level,” he said. “In the scaled up version, the neural networks are big power hogs. So if we bring the power down for the neural network, that’s still very meaningful, from an overall system level…it’s relative. Even if you need an ADC at the front for the scaled up version, relatively speaking, it’s still going to be a smaller chunk of energy [required by] the system.” Mathur stressed that this multi-die device is further into the future than its keyword spotting and tiny vision chips. “There’s a lot of pull for [the scaled-up version], people’s eyes open up when we show our numbers—so it may be that we get a big supporter to accelerate that one, but the use cases need to be thought out more clearly,” he said. “But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, because no-one has really brought analog compute to high volume production and delivered on its promise.” “We want to be the first to do that, but we want to walk before we try and run,” he added. Previous Next