Semiconductor firm Texas Instruments (TI) has launched two new microcontroller units (MCUs), designed to support Edge AI applications.

Dubbed MSPM0G5187 and AM13Ex, the two MCUs have been integrated with TI’s TinyEngine neural processing unit (NPU) to speed up processing and cut energy use, the company said.

The NPU works by executing computations necessary for neural networks in parallel to the primary CPU running application code. According to Texas Instruments, its TinyEngine NPU is capable of running AI models with up to 90 times lower latency and more than 120 times lower energy utilization per inference.

"TI invented the digital signal processor almost 50 years ago, laying the groundwork for today's Edge AI processing," said Amichai Ron, SVP, embedded processing and DLP products at TI. "Now TI is leading the next phase of innovation by integrating the TinyEngine NPU across our entire microcontroller portfolio, including general-purpose and high-performance, real-time MCUs. By enabling AI across our software, tools, devices and ecosystem, we are making Edge AI accessible and easy to use for every customer and every application."

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Silicon Labs designs and manufactures chips – primarily microcontrollers and wireless system-on-chips (SoCs) and modules – for wireless technologies across a number of industries. In February 2025, the company was awarded a grant of $23 million under the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) to support the construction of a new $80 m R&D facility in Austin, Texas.

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Silicon Labs designs and manufactures chips – primarily microcontrollers and wireless system-on-chips (SoCs) and modules – for wireless technologies across a number of industries. In February 2025, the company was awarded a grant of $23 million under the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) to support the construction of a new $80 million R&D facility in Austin, Texas.

In February 2026, the company announced plans to acquire fabless semiconductor company Silicon Labs in a $7.5 billion all-cash transaction. The deal is expected to generate around $450 million of annual manufacturing and operational revenue within three years of the deal closing, and will see Texas Instruments add approximately 1,200 products to its existing portfolio.