The rivalry between analog and digital chips is never-ending. There were times when digital chips completely masked the analog ones due to their attractive features and services. However, the tables have turned, and analog chips have been crowned again.
On this point, Sagence Inc. has announced the development of Sagence AI, which builds analog chips to provide solutions against energy eaters ’GPUs. What are the reasons behind the shift, and why have analog chips entered the market? You must read today’s news drop to find your answer.
High Energy GPU’s
As you already know, Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are digital circuitry that controls how AI models run. However, these GPUs consume a lot of energy, which is not sustainable. Goldman Sachs estimates that there is a chance that the ongoing situation of artificial intelligence could increase energy demand by up to 160% by 2030.
Analog Chips Development: A New Solution
In response to what to do and what not to do, Vishal Sarin, a memory circuit and analog designer, announced building Sagence AI. He believes that Sagence AI will develop analog chips that work as energy-efficient alternatives for Artificial Intelligence against digital chips used in GPUs.
Sarin reveals that analog chips use a wide range of values to represent data when comparing digital and analog chips. Not only this, these chips perform calculations using a few modules, which digital chips only wish to do.
Furthermore, digital chips only depend upon two values (0 and 1) to represent data. This results in analog chips being the winners compared to their competitors.
How Analog Chips Work Compared to Digital Ones?
You must not be old enough to ask how analog chips work. However, their working capacity is upgraded in connection with AI. The newer analog chips, better known as, in-memory chips, do not transfer data from memory to processors. The non-availability of this additional step makes these chips faster and more efficient.
In addition, analog chips are known for their higher data density and ability to store data in less space, making them one position upward than digital chips. However, analog chips have downsides, such as:
- Analog Chips require focused and accurate production
- They are harder to program
Sagence AI and Analog Chips Motto
Sagence Inc. has revealed its motto and given the ultimate solution to prevent GPU’s energy issues. The team members stated that it would overcome the limitations of traditional graphic processing units and design the chips and system, helping run several AI models.
The mission is to ensure that analog chips complement digital ones rather than replace them. This will accelerate specialized applications and help complete tasks that would be impossible with digital chips alone, including tasks on mobile gadgets and servers. Sagence’s products have these specialties:
- Limit the power
- Reduce cost and latency problems
- High-performance AI applications
Sagence Status of Building Chips Among Other Start-Ups
You must have wondered why Sagence is building analog chips. Many other start-ups, such as Mythic and EnCharge, have initiated their missions. However, Sagence believes that it will launch its analog chips in the market by 2025. For this reason, it has attracted many investors with the intention of raising more money to do the task.
Certain Challenges
Sagence is trying that its chips will solve the energy issues within digital chips. For this, it is facing challenges in attracting customers who have invested in other companies for chip development, like Nvidia. Sagence strives to overcome tariffs and international trade restrictions to make its products prominent and worth mentioning.