Anker raises the bar for on-device AI with a hugely optimized chip for earbuds

To listen to some of the most vocal AI proponents, these systems are going to solve every problem known to man and usher in a new utopian age. While the reality is a bit less transformative, there’s no denying that AI is capable of some remarkable feats — when we throw sufficient processing power behind it, anyway. But now Anker is trying to show us that even devices with limited resources can get it on the benefits, as it introduces its new AI chip solution.

Wireless earbuds sound like one of the most challenging possible targets for on-device AI: They’re physically compact, with not a lot of room for big batteries; they live right up against our skin, so if they get hot it’s going to be very uncomfortable; and they don’t tend to have a reliable, high-bandwidth data connection capable of leaning on cloud AI assistance. But don’t tell that to Anker, because this product category is exactly where the company’s getting its next-gen AI plans started.

The core of Anker’s efforts is what it’s calling Thus: an AI chip platform designed to meet these sort of challenging requirements. The chip’s biggest trick exists on the silicon level: a design called compute-in-memory that allows the processor to work directly on data without the typical overhead needed moving data in and out of memory — operations that Anker says can account for over 90% of the power that other solutions consume.

Anker hasn’t yet shared the full details behind its inaugural pair of Thus-equipped earbuds, but the company plans to announce them in just one more month, on Anker Day — May 21. One early feature it is willing to preview is called Clear Calls, a large neural network-based Environmental Noise Cancellation (ENC) system designed to selectively filter out background noise for better call fidelity that we’d get with basic algorithms or simpler AI. Between the processing capabilities of the Thus chip and a sensor array consisting of eight MEMS microphones and two bone-conduction pickups, Anker hopes to offer some best-in-class ENC.

That sounds perfectly impressive on its own, but for Anker, those earbuds feel largely like a proof of concept — and the company is clear that its interest in deploying Thus chips for on-device AI is only just getting started. Over the next few years, expect to see Thus chips popping up in all corners of the Anker ecosystem, from more Soundcore audio gear, to all the rest of Anker’s mobile accessories.