To deliver both increased AI chip performance and greater automation of design, the center’s integrated R&D platform comprises an unusually broad array of research expertise spanning so ware, hardware, chip structure and design, and AI algorithms and applications, linking upstream to downstream. The center has taken on around + researchers and engineers and is aiming to recruit a total of 8 full-time sta with extensive industrial experience. In addition, 6 top faculty members and over doctoral researchers from the four universities are on board. Its cooperative relationship with industry is another important factor, according to Prof. Cheng. Companies can gain advice from ACCESS researchers on AI algorithms and AI chip architecture o ering the most e cient solutions for their businesses while ACCESS teams can learn more about the latest developments and requirements of the AI application market. Incubation of new start-ups would also result. “The need is mutual. We need to reach out for new applications and impact, and companies seeking applications already have customers that will be the bene ciaries. The next step is how to build a customized chip so their product becomes more competitive and energy e cient,” he said. Furthermore, such cooperation should see more university integrated circuit research being commercialized. “We always say the ‘valley of death’ is the gap between university research and industrial deployment. Universities can turn their concepts into demos but face many problems before they can reach production. Industry nds 15 IN FOCUS interesting demos from universities but needs several years to work out how they can apply them. ACCESS has been conceived to integrate the R&D pipeline and remove the valley of death, which I think is a unique opportunity.” Despite the center’s work in AI and chip design being at the intersection of two of the hottest areas of electronics research, Prof. Cheng is optimistic about ACCESS’s ability to attract top talents to Hong Kong given its distinctive integrated R&D pipeline, signi cant investment in resources by government, and HKUST’s commitment to drive the hub forward. “Other research centers are not connecting all the di erent dots together as a uni ed center and can only do part of what ACCESS can do,” he pointed out. It can thus appeal to both experienced researchers seeking to grow their experience in a cutting-edge transnational research center and young talents keen to gain wider knowledge and skills through the comprehensive range of expertise that the platform brings together. Meanwhile, the location of ACCESS in Hong Kong and the openings provided by the Greater Bay Area, which already possesses world-leading domains in AI applications and infrastructure such as machine learning and computer vision technology, among others, o er tremendous potential for research and business development. “I think the center will put Hong Kong on the global map in this area. You have great customers, great technology, and the next stage is to tie this together with the AI hardware,” Prof. Cheng explained. “We are in the right place at the right time.” The consortium of leading universities behind ACCESS has created a novel integrated basic research and development pipeline, offering a distinctive opportunity for top researchers and PhD students globally. Ubiquitous AI that sticks to its task As AI extends its reach into di erent areas of people’s lives, concerns are frequently raised around areas such as privacy, responsibility, and ethics. In this regard, Prof. Cheng noted that ACCESS’s work focuses only on core application- speci c AI, not general purpose. “We want a device to be more intelligent but intelligent only for the particular task you want for that device. Thus, we contain intelligence to a very speci c application, a very speci c task. Nothing more, nothing less.”
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