Xiaomi is updating a part of the Pinecone chipset, which will work exclusively on Ai devices.

Xiaomi subsidiary Pinecone, which designed the company's first chipset, the Surge S1, is being reorganized. 

ΜPart of this chipset will be split under the name Dayu ("big fish") to focus on developing AI-enabled chipsets for IoT applications (consider smart speakers and other smart gadgets).

Back in 2017, CEO Lei Jun acknowledged that the three largest smartphone makers (and Qualcomm) all have their own AI acceleration systems, and that it's important for Xiaomi to keep up with technology.

And not just for Smartphones (although the rest of Pinecone will continue to develop phone chipsets). Xiaomi is the heart of an ecosystem for everything imaginable, from robotic vacuum cleaners to washing machines.

In 2018, Xiaomi's IoT industry revenues almost doubled (increased by 86,9% on an annual basis), and its growth accelerated compared to previous years. Meanwhile, the smartphone market has fallen a few percent, making a dual "smartphone + IoT" strategy even more compelling.

In January of this year, Xiaomi pledged $ 1,5 billion over the next five years to develop its AI-based smart home ecosystem, which of course includes its own clean products as well as start-ups. with which it cooperates. Let's not forget the collaboration that Xiaomi has with Ikea and TCL.

The way Dayu will be organized is quite interesting, as Xiaomi will own 25% of the company, and the remaining shares will be distributed to employees. It will be able to raise money from independent funds, and a fairly large number of investment firms already seem to be interested.

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