Since the concept of "artificial intelligence" was officially put forward in 1956, the industry has experienced "three ups and two downs" ups and downs. As the driving force for the third wave of AI to sweep the industry, deep learning technology has opened people's eyes to the infinite possibilities of AI, from defeating Go world champions, recommending products or content for users, to launching ChatGPT applications, AI technology has begun to have a more direct connection with daily life.
At the same time, the emergence of generative AI and various AI terminals in the past two years has further strengthened the penetration of AI into various application scenarios. At MediaTek's recent Dimensity Developer Conference 2024 (MDDC 2024), it can be seen that with the support of the device-side AI capabilities provided by Dimensity chips, AI mobile phones can already provide a variety of innovative applications such as live AI face swapping, game voice companionship, and lyrics and pictures.
In the eyes of the outside world, MediaTek's deployment of AI technology is only a matter of nearly 1~2 years, but in fact, the intersection of MediaTek and AI can be traced back to 2018 or even earlier.
Generative AI is not "new"
Looking back on the synchronous evolution history of MediaTek and AI, it can be seen that it divides the penetration of AI technology into two parts: "application landing" and "forward-looking technology layout". According to Li Yanji, deputy general manager of MediaTek's wireless communication division, the earliest scenario for MediaTek to be empowered through AI is in the field of mobile phone imaging, which is the "computational optics" that many mobile phone manufacturers have begun to mention today.
Through the APU unit deployed in the chip, the mobile phone can intelligently identify the current shooting object and shooting scene, and optimize the shooting process and the quality of the final film in real time based on this. Taking the P60 chip launched by MediaTek in 2018 as an example, the internally integrated dual-core AI processing unit has been designed to specifically handle AI tasks, such as face recognition, object and scene recognition, photo enhancement, etc.
The combination of AI and imaging capabilities soon allowed smartphones to break the limitations of hardware specifications and physical design space, allowing them to find a "shortcut" to improve the quality and experience of taking photos, and at the same time, MediaTek also made a forward-looking layout in generative AI algorithms.
Li Yanji said that as early as 2017, MediaTek noticed that the Transformer operator would bring users a different AI experience from the past, so MediaTek decided to deploy new algorithms and operators in advance to deal with possible new applications in the future. It is precisely because of its advanced strategic vision that MediaTek can occupy a favorable position in the current wave of generative AI applications.
From the perspective of chip design planning, after determining the future development direction of AI technology, MediaTek was able to help the implementation of a series of AI functions by strengthening APU computing power in the design of chips, especially with the release of Dimensity 9000 series chips, through its excellent performance and leading AI computing power, it has achieved good feedback in the market.
These chips not only support the efficient operation of AI applications, but also provide strong technical support for developers and promote the popularization and application of AI technology. The continuous enhancement of chip AI capabilities enables mobile phone manufacturers to continuously bring consumers a more convenient and advanced mobile terminal experience.
Therefore, it can also be seen that vivo, OPPO, Xiaomi and other mobile phone manufacturers have been deepening their cooperative relations with MediaTek in recent years. The vivo X100s series chose to launch the Dimensity 9300+ chip, and the Redmi K70E launched the Dimensity 8300-Ultra, and took the lead in supporting generative AI technology among products in the same class.
MediaTek's success is not only reflected in the technological leadership of its products, but also in its accurate grasp of future trends and unremitting pursuit of innovation, and its high emphasis on generative AI, which allows MediaTek to start developing relevant optimization algorithms earlier, providing more API entrances for mobile phone manufacturers, and building developer platforms around AI.
For example, the mixed-precision INT4 quantization technology that the Dimensity 9300 has begun to support, combined with the memory hardware compression technology NeuroPilot Compression, has "accelerated" generative AI services for more users by making computing power more efficient and reducing the use of local resources.
Give the "AI key" to the developer
At present, one of the main challenges facing the AI industry is "hardware ready, lack of killer applications". In order to solve this problem, MediaTek works closely with many ecosystem partners to help developers use generative AI technology more efficiently and launch innovative application scenarios by opening up technology platforms and providing development tools.
At this year's MDDC 2024 conference, MediaTek and ecosystem partners jointly released the "Generative AI Mobile Phone Industry White Paper", launched the "Dimensity AI Pioneer Program" with Dimensity platform partners, and shared the Dimensity AI Development Kit, a generative AI device-side deployment solution. These measures not only demonstrate MediaTek's deep accumulation in the field of AI technology, but also reflect its firm determination to promote the construction of the AI industry ecosystem.
For developers, MediaTek has launched the Dimensity AI development kit, aiming to lower the development threshold and promote the popularization of AI technology, as Chen Yiqiang, deputy general manager of MediaTek's wireless communication division, said, in addition to providing a more solid computing platform foundation for AI through iterative upgrading of chips, MediaTek also attaches great importance to the construction of developer ecology.
As Chen Yiqiang said, the Dimensity AI development kit is not only to provide technical support and application implementation, but also to build a complete developer ecosystem, so that developers can use our technology more efficiently and create more valuable applications. Through cooperation with top AI companies and developers, MediaTek hopes to promote more killer applications in the shortest possible time, so that AI technology can truly enter users' daily lives.
In order to enable AI applications to not only be developed, but also to quickly find a business channel belonging to the AI era, we have to mention the AI Pioneer Program announced by MediaTek at the same time, which can encourage developers and application partners to innovate in the field of AI by providing technical support and resource exchange.
At the developer conference, you can see that dozens of manufacturers such as Alibaba Cloud, Cocos, Honor of Kings, Huya Live, Kugou Music, Meitu, WeSing Music, RWKV, Soul, Tencent AI Lab, Xiaohongshu, etc., have cooperated with MediaTek Dimensity to develop innovative generative AI applications.
"The AI Pioneer Program consists of two parts, the first part is that we work with models and OEMs, and the other is to work with all APP developers to explore how to develop new applications based on such hardware. Therefore, the Pioneer Project basically hopes to release development resources to these application developers so that they can join, so as to accelerate the construction and advancement of the ecosystem. Li Yanji said.
In addition to focusing on developers and ecosystem construction, MediaTek has also begun to establish industry standards for AI hardware, MediaTek and Counterpoint have joined hands with Alibaba Cloud Tongyi Qianwen, Baichuan Model, OPPO, Soul, Tencent AI Lab and other ecological partners to jointly release the "Generative AI Mobile Phone Industry White Paper", jointly defining the concept and typical characteristics of "generative AI mobile phones".
There is no doubt that generative AI phones will be the biggest change in the category after entering the intelligent era. Through the establishment and promotion of chips, algorithms and application ecosystems, MediaTek has become an important force to promote generative AI from leading technologies to mobile terminals and serve every mobile phone user.
The future is here, and Dimensity helps open the door to AI
With the concentrated explosion of AI applications, different voices have emerged in the industry, one of which is the discussion of two different AI application landing technology paths: "cloud" and "device". According to the analysis of Titanium Media APP, the cloud can provide ultra-large-scale computing power, which is more suitable for the exploration of general AI and extensive AI capabilities. On the other hand, end-of-device applications are more closely related to users' daily lives, with faster response times and no privacy issues, making them more suitable for vertical and personalized AI applications.
Especially for individual users, the implementation of device-side AI will undoubtedly have a stronger attraction in personalized services, improve interaction efficiency, and enhance productivity/entertainment application experience. Taking the game scene as an example, MediaTek has begun to enhance the game experience through AI technology, including AI frame insertion, AI super resolution and other applications, coupled with MediaTek's ray tracing and fully upgraded star speed engine technology, so that the future game experience can have a stronger sense of immersion.
On the one hand, it occupies the most user time, and on the other hand, smartphones are also the priority landing terminals for cutting-edge chips and cutting-edge computing power.
This also explains why generative AI mobile phones have become the common focus of all chip manufacturers, mobile phone manufacturers, large model manufacturers, and application manufacturers. According to Counterpoint's forecast for the development of generative AI mobile phones, it will continue to grow at a high rate in the coming years, with global sales increasing to 1.23 billion units by 2027.
In terms of the layout of generative AI mobile phones, MediaTek can be said to be "one step ahead", providing a perfect foundation for end-side AI applications by launching powerful chips, optimization algorithms and development tools.
Therefore, from the perspective of corporate strategy and industrial development, generative AI mobile phones are not only the main direction of MediaTek's current leadership, but also the first breakthrough of end-side generative AI. (This article was first published on Titanium Media APP)