DEEPX Signs Strategic Partnership with Avnet Silica, Accelerating Expansion into theEMEA

 
  • DEEPX to expand the supply of ultra-low-power NPUs across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa through Avnet’s global distribution network.
  • Delivering South Korean AI semiconductor innovation to core European industries, including smart cities and robotics.

DEEPX, a pioneer in ultra-low-power on-device AI semiconductors, today announced the signing of a new franchise agreement with Avnet Silica, the semiconductor specialist division of Avnet (NASDAQ: AVT), a leading global technology distributor. This strategic partnership marks the full-scale launch of DEEPX’s expansion into the European market.


This collaboration combines DEEPX’s world-class low-power, high-performance AI semiconductor technology with Avnet Silica’s extensive global supply chain to proactively address the rapidly growing demand in the Edge AI market.


Engineers across Europe’s industrial sectors face a critical challenge: delivering high-performance AI computing within strict power and thermal constraints. Traditional microcontrollers (MCUs) often lack the necessary performance, while GPUs consume too much power for widespread edge deployment.


Through this partnership, DEEPX positions itself as the solution to bridge this technological gap. Customers across the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region can now easily access DEEPX’s NPU solutions through Avnet Silica’s distribution network. The adoption of DEEPX chips is expected to accelerate, particularly in high-performance embedded applications such as smart city infrastructure, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), machine vision, and smart factories.


“We are continually focused on helping our customers bridge the gap between high-performance AI demands and the realities of constrained power budgets at the Edge,” said Michael Uyttersprot, Manager System Solutions, AI/ML & Vision System Solutions at Avnet Silica. “DEEPX delivers the essential NPU architecture and efficiency required to deploy sophisticated models in power- and thermal-sensitive environments, significantly enhancing the options across our existing linecard.”

 

“We are excited to partner with Avnet, a world-class technology distributor with deep expertise in bringing cutting-edge solutions to market,” said Tim Park, Strategy Marketing Director at DEEPX. “ By combining Avnet’s global reach and design support capabilities with  DEEPX’s ultra-efficient Edge AI NPUs, we will help customers build AI systems that are more scalable, more sustainable, and easier to deploy. Together, we aim to accelerate the shift from data center-centric AI to a new era of Physical AI at the edge.”

 

Starting with this agreement, DEEPX plans to broaden its touchpoints with local customers
through major industrial exhibitions and technical seminars in Europe, further solidifying its
position in the global AI semiconductor market.

 

DEEPX in AVNET Product Shop: View URL Link

South Korea’s DEEPX to supply AI chips for Baidu’s drones and robots

South Korean AI semiconductor developer DeepX has struck a deal to supply chips for Chinese tech giant Baidu, targeting applications in drones and robotics.

The partnership will integrate DeepX’s processors with Baidu’s PaddlePaddle open-source deep learning framework to co-develop AI solutions for global industrial markets.
According to Yonhap News Agency and TheElec, Baidu said the agreement will broaden edge AI applications from optical character recognition (OCR) in documents and images to autonomous aerial and robotic systems.

Performance rivals Nvidia, with lower power draw
DeepX’s DX-M1 AI chip is now fully compatible with the fifth-generation PP-OCR model on PaddlePaddle. Baidu said the jointly developed recognition system outperformed Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 Ti in key benchmarks, delivering superior performance and energy efficiency.
The chip’s low-power, high-performance profile makes it well-suited for battery-constrained industrial AI devices such as inspection robots, equipment monitors, and automated document processors, enabling faster, more accurate, and longer-lasting operations.
Baidu plans to deliver the DX-M1 to around 20 customers, including drone manufacturers, with mass production to follow initial orders. The companies aim to extend their collaboration beyond OCR into a broader range of physical AI applications.

Next-gen chips for Baidu’s ERNIE 4.5
The two firms have also begun proof-of-concept testing of DeepX’s upcoming DX-M2 chip with Baidu’s large vision model (VLM) ERNIE 4.5. Early results show that ERNIE 4.5 maintains high accuracy while operating stably in ultra-low-power environments.
Because DeepX’s semiconductors are designed for edge computing rather than large-scale AI training servers, the products fall outside the scope of US export restrictions on China-bound AI chips.

News Source – https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20250812PD207/deepx-baidu-industrial-chips-ocr.html