Title: Powering AI at 2025's CES: The Role of Data Storage and Memory
On my last blog about the 2025 CES in Las Vegas, I discuss my meetings with several tech giants in the digital storage and memory sector. First up was Phison, who presented their Gen5 SSD controllers that power Micron Crucial NVMe Gen5 SSDs. These advanced nodes enable lower power consumption and higher performance. At the event, they showcased the PS5028-E28 consumer SSD and the PS5031-E31T PCIe Gen5 SSD for desktop and notebook use.
I also had a chance to chat with Coby Hanoch from Weebit Nano about their non-volatile resistive memory technology, which has seen significant progress. The highlight was their licensing deal with Onsemi to use Weebit's ReRAM technology to replace eFlash and NOR flash on the 65nm Treo Platform. This agreement opens up opportunities in the advanced automotive and industry applications market.
Next, I visited Seagate's Venetian hotel room, where they unveiled their latest products and future plans. Their Seagate, LaCie, and Firecuda brands were the center of attention, showcasing various storage solutions for different industries, including creatives and media. Lance Ohara and Dave Helmly from Seagate and Adobe shared insights on how AI can help future digital storage solutions.
At OWC's exhibit at Showstoppers, I discovered some exciting products like the ThunderBlade X12 and active optical cable, as well as the general availability of a Thunderbolt 5 Hub. The ThunderBlade X12 is a RAID solution perfect for high-performance workloads, while the Thunderbolt 5 Hub provides 3 Thunderbolt 5 ports and one USB-A port.
During my time at CES, I also talked to three artificial intelligence chip companies aimed at embedded consumer and other markets. Ambiq showcased their Ambiq 4 SoC chips with MRAM memory, which are being used in various applications, like low-cost hearing aids and high-performance graphics processes. Additionally, their Apollo 5 SoC chips doubled the available MRAM memory to 4MB.
Next, I met with Fabrizio Del Maffeo, CEO and co-founder of Alexera AI, who presented their Metis AI Accelerator and M.2 AI Edge accelerator card. They also announced a collaboration with Arduino Pro, offering developers easy-to-use, cost-effective tools to power AI innovation across industries.
Lastly, Hailo showcased their powerful AI chip and various applications, including the Hailo-8 AI Processor, Hailo-10H M.2 AI acceleration module, and Hailo-15 chip. They also demonstrated several vision processing applications, such as a radar edge processing device and video processing for aerial drones.
Overall, digital storage and memory capabilities have played a significant role in the advancements of AI applications in consumer devices. At the 2025 CES, companies like SK hynix, Intel, and NVIDIA showcased their innovative memory and storage solutions, aiming to improve performance, efficiency, and scalability in various industries.
- The Ambiq 4 SoC chips, used in applications like low-cost hearing aids and high-performance graphics processes, are powered by MRAM memory from Ambiq.
- Weebit Nano's ReRAM technology, which was licensed to Onsemi for their 65nm Treo Platform, can replace both eFlash and NOR flash.
- Hailo demonstrated the Hailo-8 AI Processor and several vision processing applications, such as a radar edge processing device and video processing for aerial drones, using their powerful AI chip.
- Seagate, LaCie, and Firecuda showcased various storage solutions at their Venetian hotel room, catering to different industries, including creatives and media.
- Coby Hanoch from Weebit Nano shared information about their non-volatile resistive memory technology, which has seen significant progress and has potential applications in the advanced automotive and industry markets.
