Sony and Raspberry Pi Partner on AI Edge Computing to Leverage its Advantages

Sony’s Semiconductor Solutions division has invested in Raspberry Pi Ltd in a deal to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Raspberry Pi’s ecosystem of devices. The investment whose amount was not disclosed will enable Sony to further its goal of increasing security through AI capabilities.

Sony’s Strategic Investment

On Wednesday, Sony invested in Raspberry Pi, not only to support the DIY approach to building computers but to also make its AITRIOS “edge AI sensing technology”, built around image sensors, available for Raspberry Pi 4 devices.

While Sony did not make public the value of the investment, Eben Upton, the co-founder, and CEO of Raspberry Pi, revealed that the company raised the money at the same $500 million valuation it had in its $45 million funding round in 2021.

“This transaction will allow us to expand our partnership, bringing Sony Semiconductor Solutions’ line of AI products to the Raspberry Pi ecosystem, and helping our users to build exciting new machine-learning applications at the edge,” Upton said in a statement.

According to Sony, the AITROS edge computing AI platform, which is the center of the partnership, is an on-chip system that causes machine learning and other AI capabilities to be more energy efficient than cloud-based AI systems.

Additionally, the system operates at lower latencies and is much more private and safer than other solutions because it simply provides metadata to cloud services. The AITROS platform applies to customer counting, license plate, and facial recognition as well as inventory monitoring and retention.

“Our goal is to provide new value to a variety of industries and support them in solving issues using our innovative edge AI sensing technology built around image sensors,” said Terushi Shimizu, president, and CEO of Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with Raspberry Pi Ltd. to bring our Aitrios platform – which supports the development of unique and diverse solutions utilizing our edge AI devices – to the Raspberry Pi user and developer community, and provide a unique development experience,” added Shimizu.

Marketed as a simple, affordable, and accessible educational tool for students and people interested in learning computer programming, Raspberry Pi was launched in 2012 by Upton.

The company has since grown to expand its line of computer products with its star product, the credit-card-sized single-board computer growing in application from high-altitude balloons to small radio-controlled submarines.

The Raspberry Pi, originally created as a tool for robotics and coding training, is now valuable for programmers to create fairly complex Internet of Things (IoT) and other devices. The Raspberry Pi 4, the most recent model, offers both experts and hobbyist electronics fans PC-like performance on a compact, portable circuit board.

As a result, the incorporation of Sony’s AITROS will produce an even more powerful piece of technology with increased security and surveillance capabilities.

A Longstanding Relationship

The new deal extends a manufacturing relationship between the two companies, which has been ongoing since the launch of Raspberry Pi in 2012. Sony has been producing famous single-board computers along with image sensors and other semiconductor products.

The companies have also partnered recently on a line of 12-megapixel camera modules which in addition to autofocus capabilities also boasts of higher resolution, infrared, HDR, a wide-angle FOV, and Sony’s new 12-megapixel IMX708 chip.

According to the programming and hacking enthusiast portal, Hackster.io, the new relationship has fueled speculations that a Raspberry Pi 5 is finally in the works. Based on recent estimates, a release might happen as early as the end of the year.

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