Innatera releases edge AI chip with sub-millisecond response for gesture recognition

Innatera announced the launch of Pulsar, its first commercially available microcontroller to bring brain-like intelligence into edge devices. Born from more than a decade of pioneering research, Pulsar delivers up to 100X lower latency and 500X lower energy consumption than conventional AI processors. With this breakthrough, Innatera brings a new class of ultra-efficient, brain-inspired intelligence directly to the sensor edge.

With sensors embedded in everything from wearables and smart homes to cars and industrial systems, the need for real-time, secure, energy-efficient data processing at the edge has never been greater. Pulsar tackles this challenge head-on by processing data locally and intelligently, at the sensor level – eliminating the need to rely on brute-force computing in power-hungry edge processors or data centers to make sense of sensor data.

Pulsar introduces a compute architecture based on Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs), a generational leap in AI hardware that processes data the way the brain does, focusing only on changes in input. This event-driven model dramatically reduces energy use and latency while delivering precise, real-time decision-making. Pulsar goes even further by combining neuromorphic computing with traditional signal processing in a revolutionary architecture. Integrating a high-performance RISC-V CPU and dedicated accelerators for Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), this architecture provides exceptional versatility on a single chip.

Pulsar gives product teams a shortcut to smarter features that were previously off-limits due to size, power, or complexity. Filtering and interpreting sensor data locally keeps the main application processor asleep until truly needed, in some cases, eliminating the need for a main application processor or cloud computing, extending battery life by orders of magnitude. With sub-milliwatt power consumption, Pulsar makes always-on intelligence truly viable, enabling everything from sub-millisecond gesture recognition in wearables to energy-efficient object detection in smart home systems. For example, it achieves real-time responsiveness with power budgets as low as 600 µW for radar-based presence detection and 400 µW for audio scene classification.

Pulsar transforms traditional sensors into self-contained intelligent systems. With its small memory footprint and efficient neural models, it fits into tight form factors while eliminating the need for heavy external compute and reducing reliance on complex, custom DSP pipelines. Sensor manufacturers can now deliver plug-and-play smart sensor modules, accelerating development and time to market.

Innatera’s Talamo SDK makes neuromorphic development approachable. Developers can build spiking models from scratch, in a PyTorch-based environment, simulate, optimize, and deploy with ease.

To further support this ecosystem, Innatera is launching its developer program, now open to early adopters. More than just a portal, it’s the foundation of a growing community designed to accelerate innovation, share knowledge, and empower members to build the next generation of intelligent edge applications together. An upcoming open-source PyTorch frontend and marketplace will create an even more collaborative ecosystem for neuromorphic AI.

Beyond what Pulsar delivers today, it lays the groundwork for what’s next: edge AI systems that are autonomous, adaptive, and capable of learning in the field. With each product generation, Innatera’s roadmap leads toward self-calibrating, self-optimizing devices that reduce maintenance costs and unlock entirely new classes of edge applications.

Pulsar is available now. Whether you’re building the next breakthrough in wearables, enabling smarter industrial systems, or designing cutting-edge sensors, Pulsar is your gateway to the future of edge intelligence.

For the press kit, click here.