LG Electronics and Tenstorrent expand AI chip partnership

LG Electronics and Tenstorrent have strengthened their partnership to create AI system-on-chips for home appliances and automotive products.

LG Electronics CEO William Cho, left and Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller at LG Electronics' Yeouido, western Seoul headquarters [LG ELECTRONICS]

LG Electronics and Tenstorrent reaffirmed their strategic partnership to develop AI system-on-chips (SOC) tailored to the Korean electronics giant's home appliances, automotive products and robotics.

SOCs are integrated circuits that combine essential components like processors and memory on a single silicon chip.

The latest partnership builds on the initial collaboration the two companies announced last May, which focused on co-developing chiplet technology and AI chips for future home appliances.

LG Electronics CEO William Cho and Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller met in Seoul recently to advance the project.

Although details of the partnership remain undisclosed, the companies are expected to share intellectual property and design assets to develop AI processors optimized for LG Electronics' range of products.

LG Electronics has been increasing its competitiveness in AI chips as the technology becomes essential for its product lineup. Its AI-powered TVs and home appliances currently use LG’s proprietary AI processors, Alpha 11 and DQ-C.

Tenstorrent, a Canada-based AI chip design startup, is recognized for its use of open source RISC-V architecture in building high-computing central processing units. CEO Keller, known for his expertise in chip design, has led significant projects at AMD, Apple, and Tesla.

“Tenstorrent is bringing the industry’s leading AI and RISC-V technology to this collaboration,” Cho said in a release Tuesday.

“We aim to deliver a new customer experience through our 'Affectionate Intelligence,' focusing on personalized, attentive solutions that better understand customers and offer tangible value.”

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]