Tech: Brainchip shares jump to 18-month highs on 'Tier-1' automotive deal

AI technology platform Brainchip Holdings (ASX:BRN) continued recent momentum with a new deal announcement this morning.

The company has struck an agreement with Valeo Corporation, a Europe-based supplier of sensors and equipment used in autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems.

Under the terms of the deal, BRN’s Akida device — an artificial intelligence solution based on neural network patterns of the human brain — will be deployed in the development of Valeo’s sensor technology.

Investors immediately approved, sending BRN shares more than 40 per cent higher at the opening bell before the stock eased back slightly.

At around 12 cents, BRN shares have climbed by almost 400 per cent from the March 2020 COVID-19 lows, and are now trading at their highest level since October 2018.

Brainchip said the deal with a “Tier-1 European automotive supplier” is evidence of auto industry approval for its neuromorphic solution to processing data.

“By combining the Akida neural network processor with sensors, the resulting system can achieve ultra-low power, minimum latency, maximum reliability, and incremental learning,” Brainchip said.

That’s superior to existing technologies, which require all data insights to be transferred to a central processing unit which then has the “burden” of processing data from multiple sources in a timely and cost efficient manner.

Brainchip said that performance milestones and payments baked into the deal should be enough to cover its expenses.

Exact terms of the deal will be “defined by the achievement of performance milestones and the availability of the Akida device”, BRN said.

In other ASX tech news today:

Cloud-based video processing company Linius Technologies (ASX:LNU) also rose strongly after announcing a demo deal with Sky Italia. The Pay-TV broadcaster will pay LNU to develop a proof-of-concept for a personalised TV solution to test user engagement, build commercial contract models and work on product design.

“Existing research by Quantum Market Research of Sky UK subscribers indicates 96 per cent of viewers want personalised channels and will pay a premium for it,” LNU said. To facilitate the test, which is expected to mainly focus on sports, Sky Italia will pay LNU a one-off fee of $US39,250 (~$56k).