Sapeon to supply NPU IP to Telechips

Sapeon Inc., the artificial intelligence (AI) chip subsidiary of South Korea's SK Telecom Co., announced on Friday that it will supply its AI semiconductor X300 architecture-based neural processing unit (NPU) for autonomous driving vehicles to Telechips, an integrated semiconductor company for automotive applications.

This NPU shares core architecture related to neural network processing with Sapeon's inference AI semiconductor X330, launched at the end of last year.

The X330 is a product that improves operational performance by more than four times and power efficiency by more than two times compared to its predecessor, the "X220."

Telechips plans to develop AI system-on-chip (SoC) for automobiles using Sapeon's IP.

Sapeon expects to expand its presence in the autonomous driving car market.

Meanwhile, the first samples of the AI accelerator A2X, which the two companies are jointly developing, are scheduled to be unveiled later this year.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com