Top Highlights from the 2025 Edge AI Foundation Event in Austin

The Edge AI Foundation hosted its annual event in Austin, Texas, from February 25–27, 2025. Over 300 tech leaders, researchers, and professionals came together to explore the latest in edge artificial intelligence. The theme—Connect, Innovate, Deploy—reflected the event’s focus on real-world AI use cases in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, smart cities, and consumer tech.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the event.

Smarter, Smaller, and More Efficient AI Hardware

New edge AI hardware stole the spotlight. Companies like BrainChip and STMicroelectronics launched powerful small, fast, and energy-efficient processors—perfect for running AI on devices in factories, vehicles, and more:

• BrainChip revealed its Akida chip in a compact form, using just 1 watt of power. It can help with gesture control, computer vision, and cybersecurity.

• STMicroelectronics launched the STM32N6 chip with a built-in Neural Processing Unit (NPU), making it 600 times faster at machine learning than older chips.

• Dell updated its NativeEdge platform to support systems that never go down, which is essential for critical tasks like predictive maintenance.

Big Deals: Mergers and Partnerships

A big theme was how major companies join forces to move faster in the edge AI race. For example:

👉 Qualcomm bought Edge Impulse, a company with tools for building and deploying AI models. Together, they aim to help developers build smarter apps for tracking assets, predicting failures, and more.

👉 NXP Semiconductors bought Kinara for $307 million. Kinara makes powerful AI chips used in cars and industrial machines.

These deals show companies combining hardware, software, and services to offer complete AI solutions.

Key Trends Shaping Edge AI

Here are three trends that stood out:

1. Rise of NPUs (Neural Processing Units): NPUs are replacing traditional chips to run AI faster and with less power. Devices like smart sensors, cameras, and robots now run AI tasks like detecting faults or tracking motion in real time.

2. Security is a Top Concern: As more AI runs outside the data center, there’s a greater risk of data leaks or hacked models. Companies like BrainChip and Dell are building stronger security into their devices to protect user data.

3. Smaller Models, Smarter Devices: Tools like TinyML and SplitQuant are helping companies shrink AI models to fit on tiny chips without losing accuracy. For example, STMicroelectronics showed how they can cut memory use by 70% while still running powerful models.

Working Together: Industry + Academia

Collaboration was a big theme too. Tech companies and universities teamed up to share research and real-world results.

👉 MathWorks and STMicroelectronics showed off motor control systems powered by AI.

👉 Dell highlighted how its platform now connects easily with cloud services like AWS, making it easier to move between edge and cloud systems.

Building a Global Edge AI Community

The event also focused on growing the edge AI community. Startups met with investors, and experts discussed the ethics of AI and training the next generation of tech talent. The Foundation announced future events in Milan and Taipei, helping spread innovation worldwide.

Final Thoughts

The 2025 Edge AI Foundation Event proved that edge AI is growing fast. With better hardware, innovative partnerships, and strong community support, AI is moving closer to where data is created—in factories, hospitals, and homes. 

Events like this help to shape a brighter, more connected future.

About the Author

Manish Jain has spearheaded product management at industry leaders like Rockwell Automation, Hitachi, and GE. With deep expertise in Machine Vision, he has driven multiple product initiatives from concept to development, tackling diverse industry use cases.

Want to stay ahead of the curve with insights into the newest advancements in Edge AI? Subscribe to Manish’s EdgeAI Insider newsletter at GenAI Works. 

🚀 Boost your business with us—advertise where 10M+ AI leaders engage

🌟 Sign up for the first AI Hub in the world.

📲 Our Socials