Quest for AI Leadership Pushes Microsoft Further Into Chip Development (bloomberg.com) 34
From a Bloomberg report: Tech companies are keen to bring cool artificial intelligence features to phones and augmented reality goggles -- the ability to show mechanics how to fix an engine, say, or tell tourists what they are seeing and hearing in their own language. But there's one big challenge: how to manage the vast quantities of data that make such feats possible without making the devices too slow or draining the battery in minutes and wrecking the user experience. Microsoft says it has the answer with a chip design for its HoloLens goggles -- an extra AI processor that analyzes what the user sees and hears right there on the device rather than wasting precious microseconds sending the data back to the cloud. The new processor, a version of the company's existing Holographic Processing Unit, is being unveiled at an event in Honolulu, Hawaii, today. The chip is under development and will be included in the next version of HoloLens; the company didn't provide a date. This is one of the few times Microsoft is playing all roles (except manufacturing) in developing a new processor. The company says this is the first chip of its kind designed for a mobile device. Bringing chipmaking in-house is increasingly in vogue as companies conclude that off-the-shelf processors aren't capable of fully unleashing the potential of AI. Apple is testing iPhone prototypes that include a chip designed to process AI, a person familiar with the work said in May. Google is on the second version of its own AI chips. To persuade people to buy the next generation of gadgets -- phones, VR headsets, even cars -- the experience will have to be lightning fast and seamless.
Silly PR statement (Score:2)
If that's all they needed then they could just move one of those newfangled "cloud processors" into the goggles...since all it would be doing is exactly what they would have been doing in the cloud (with existing chips).
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Yeah, well, you get better press showing when you reveal your boring electronics geek stuff in Hawaii than you would if you held the same event in a windowless lab or a raining dreary place.
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Now we just need an excuse.
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Holographic Processing Unit
Which is more marketing bullshit.
a fully three-dimensional image of the holographed subject, which is seen without the aid of special glasses or other intermediate optics
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You want to do it in software on the cloud because cloud servers can be equipped with much more powerful processors, and you want your cloud server to also be able to handle other types of AI requests (e.g. voice recognition for digital assista
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"Cloudy Goggles", there's a sales-boosting name for ya.
Microsoft and Hardware (Score:2, Troll)
Much like Google I don't think they get it, and immediately want to commoditize it such that it becomes junk quickly after it gets adopted. Even the XBox, Microsoft's one good entry into Hardware has suffered from atrophy to the point where most people I know would prefer a ps3/4, even with its relative warts wrt online issues.
I guess when I read that microsoft is doing hardware, I have real doubts. These days i don't even trust their software.
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Business-wise, it worked "good enough": MS got a foothold into the gaming market and is cruising with the Xbox. They just have to keep it "good enough" for it to be a cash cow in the oligopoly-land of game consoles. If they accidentally slip behind
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hahahahahahahaha.
your property...
hahahahahahahaha
Happy Life Buddy (Score:2)
HLB: Hi there, I'm your Happy Life Buddy from Microsoft, I'm here to explain your what you are seeing.
User: I don't need you to tell me what I'm seeing.
HLB: Are you sure? You act confused, everybody wants an HLB.
User: Uh...no thanks, I'll do my life by myself.
HLB: Have you examined all the possibilities for full enjoyment, I'm here to help.
User: You can help me by SFTU and leaving me alone.
HLB: No one wants to be alone, I'll keep you company.
User: Gaccckkkk!! Please go away.
HLB: Okay, how about we go over h
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Prior art. [youtube.com] The new kids don't know about the Clippy era; arguably the first commercially-common annoying AI-like "assistant". MS pioneered agitation in many ways.
Microsoft and AI chip development (Score:2)
DNRTFA, but the title makes me think: Oh, boy. Direct Hardware Support for Clippy.
Software Makers, Chips, and Moore's Law (Score:2)
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Even if Moore's law was fully alive, an extra order of magnitude improvement over general purpose processors is still worth it.
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Even if Moore's law was fully alive, an extra order of magnitude improvement over general purpose processors is still worth it.
If Moore's law was alive, then general purpose chips would get better faster than you could develop your own custom chip. The fact that they're creating their own chips is a sign that Moore's law is dead.