Ambiq’s Atomiq SoC Combines Arm Ethos-U85 and SPOT Technology to Redefine Energy-Efficient Edge AI
January 13, 2026
News
Ambiq Micro, Inc. introduced its Atomiq system-on-chip (SoC) that incorporates a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) engineered to facilitate real-time, always-on artificial intelligence at the edge. The SoC is built on Ambiq’s Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform. Atomiq is designed to tackle the problem of scaling device intelligence without compromising battery life or increasing thermal and system costs in edge AI applications.
Key Features:
SPOT-Optimized NPU:
- First SoC to utilize sub- and near-threshold voltage operation for AI acceleration
Greater than 200 GOPS of On-Device AI Performance:
- Arm Ethos-U85 NPU supports sparsity and instant decompression for computer vision, multilingual speech recognition, and sensory models, directly on the device
Dynamic Power Scaling for Always-on Intelligence:
- SPOT-based ultra-wide range dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) permits function at lower voltage and lower power than previously possible
“The Atomiq product family represents a step-change in energy-efficient edge AI,” says CTO and Founder, Dr. Scott Hanson. “By combining the Atomiq system architecture with Arm’s Ethos-U85, we enable significantly larger AI models at the edge with industry-leading energy efficiency, powered by our SPOT platform. Together, these capabilities form the foundation for true ambient intelligence.”
With the release of Atomiq SoC, Ambiq’s edge AI portfolio can now serve high-performance, battery-powered devices previously thought of as unreasonable due to power and thermal constraints.
Applications:
Smart Cameras & Security:
- Continuous, high-precision object recognition and tracking without regular recharging or active cooling
AR Glasses & Wearables:
- Conversational voice-based interfaces with on-board text-to-speech synthesis
Industrial Edge & Robotics:
- High-fidelity semantic audio processing and advanced data analysis, operating autonomously of cloud connectivity or stationary power sources
For more information, visit ambiq.com/atomiq/.
Chad Cox. Production Editor, Embedded Computing Design, has responsibilities that include handling the news cycle, newsletters, social media, and advertising. Chad graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in Cultural and Analytical Literature.
