News release overview
Hitachi develops edge AI semiconductor as a core technology for physical AI to support HMAX Industry
Compatible with a wide range of industrial products, including manufacturing facilities, inspection systems, industrial robots, logistics equipment, buildings, and energy facilities
Tokyo, April 24, 2026 - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, “Hitachi”) and Hitachi High-Tech Corporation (“Hitachi High-Tech”) have developed an edge AI semiconductor*1 as a core technology to support HMAX Industry, a suite of next-generation solutions for the industrial sector. The semiconductor can be installed in a wide range of industrial products, including manufacturing facilities, inspection systems, industrial robots, logistics equipment, buildings, and energy facilities. Featuring high-speed processing and low power consumption, the semiconductor enables real-time analysis of diverse on-site data such as images, sounds, and vibrations directly within the equipment itself.
Evaluations using actual equipment data confirmed that the semiconductor can execute processes with more than 10 times higher power efficiency*2 than conventional approaches while operating stably within the low-power range available inside industrial equipment. These results demonstrate the feasibility of executing advanced inspection and monitoring processes, which previously required dedicated servers, directly within the equipment itself. The technology has now reached a stage at which users can implement it in a variety of on-site devices, including those in manufacturing environments where installation space and power consumption are major constraints.
Going forward, Hitachi and Hitachi High-Tech will use this edge AI semiconductor as a cross-domain execution base to support the on-site deployment of physical AI. By processing and utilizing equipment data directly at the source, the companies will expand digital services that contribute to quality stabilization, yield improvement, and productivity enhancement. Using an evaluation environment that combines the edge AI semiconductor with lightweight AI models and software, the companies will progressively advance implementation and operation tailored to customers’ equipment and production lines. As a core technology of HMAX Industry, centered on physical AI that incorporates the domain knowledge Hitachi has cultivated through its experience in industrial sectors, the technology’s scope will expand into a wide range of fields, including manufacturing, logistics, buildings, and energy.
*1 Edge AI semiconductor: A semiconductor chip installed directly in network terminal equipment (edge devices) to execute AI inference within equipment.
*2 Comparison of power efficiency for the developed lightweight edge AI model against state-of-the-art GPUs. GPU power efficiency was calculated based on catalog specifications.
