Microsoft is working on AI chips across its different devices, top exec says

Microsoft is working on an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chip for its next-generation HoloLens helmet.

And the American technology giant could take it to other products in its range of equipment, Panos Panay, vice president of devices at Microsoft, said on CNBC on Tuesday.

In July, Microsoft revealed that it was working on a processor for the second generation of HoloLens, a handset that allows users to interact and touch digital images superimposed in the real world. Microsoft calls this "mixed reality." The AI ​​chip will allow HoloLens to do things like recognizing objects in the line of sight.

It marks the first incursion of Microsoft in Artificial Intelligence chips because it seems to take rivals like Apple and Google.

The software giant is also looking to expand its offer. When CNBC asked if Microsoft would introduce AI chips into the entire device, Panay said "yes."

"We need to continue to find these pieces of silicon, those sets of chips that must be developed to give life to the sensors, to connect people with each other and with their products," Panay told CNBC in a television interview.

Microsoft now has a range of devices. It has expanded its range of Surface tablets, launched in 2012, to include a laptop and a desktop computer. It also has the Xbox game console and the HoloLens headphones.

There is an arms race in Artificial Intelligence tokens at this time. Huawei has introduced its own AI chip called Kirin 970 that has been included in the Mate 10 smartphone launched earlier this year. The new Apple iPhones also incorporate the company's A11 bionic chip.
Panos Panay, vice president of the unit at Microsoft, talks about the new Laptop Surface at a launch event on May 2, 2017 in New York.

The chips on the devices allow these devices to use "AI on the device". This means that devices do not need to communicate with the cloud to perform complex AI tasks, making them more efficient.

Mr. Panay said he was working with partners and doing internal developments to bring the chips to the market. Microsoft also has a number of hardware partners. For example, Huawei and Lenovo manufacture tablets and keyboards with Windows, Microsoft's operating system. Panay said the company will look to shoot its chips at partners.

"I think one of the most important things we do in Surface and in the development of our chips is the possibility of creating the technology within Surface and multiplying it with our partners to give everyone the opportunity to use it," Panay told CNBC.