embedded world: Ambarella pushes AI from cameras to the Edge
embedded world: Ambarella pushes AI from cameras to the Edge
https://www.iotinsider.com/events/embedded-world-ambarella-pushes-ai-from-cameras-to-the-edge/
Publish Date: 2026-03-15 04:00:00
Source Domain: www.iotinsider.com
US-based Ambarella, a long-time supplier of camera chips, is betting that artificial intelligence will increasingly run on devices rather than in the Cloud.
Speaking to IoT Insider at embedded world 2026, Jerome Gigot, VP of Marketing, Edge AI at Ambarella, outlined the company’s strategy, which has evolved over 21 years from broadcast encoders and low-power video chips to AI-enabled sensors in security, robotics, and industrial applications.
Ambarella’s proprietary processor, CVflow, combines computer vision and perception software for enterprise and consumer devices. The company claims to have shipped more than 400 million system-on-chips, including over 42 million AI-enabled SOCs embedded in cameras, robots, and video conferencing systems.
“The big difference between us and GPUs is that we are algorithm first,” Gigot said. “We optimise for real-world perception tasks rather than general-purpose computing.”
Ambarella defines “physical AI” as artificial intelligence that interacts with the real world via cameras, LiDAR, radar, or microphones. Security cameras remain its largest market, but the company is expanding into retail, logistics, and manufacturing, where AI is used for everything from shoplifting detection and queue monitoring to defect detection on assembly lines.
Edge computing is central to Ambarella’s approach. Processing data locally, on the device or a nearby Edge box, reduces latency, lowers cost, and improves security compared with cloud-based solutions. “Edge AI is more efficient, secure, and cost-effective than Cloud processing,” said Gigot. Ambarella’s hybrid model combines on-device AI for immediate tasks, Edge boxes for medium workloads, and Cloud computing for larger-scale analysis.
According to the company’s latest financial results, 80% of its revenue now stems from Edge AI, reflecting a 50% growth in this segment last year.
Ambarella is also opening its platform to developers. Its newly launched…
