October 15,2025
In a significant move to power the next wave of artificial intelligence, Synaptics Inc. has officially launched its Astra™ platform, a new generation of multimodal Generative AI (GenAI) processors designed for the edge. This family of System-on-Chips (SoCs) is engineered to bring advanced AI capabilities directly to consumer, enterprise, and industrial applications, marking a pivotal step in the company's strategic expansion beyond its traditional markets. The announcement signals Synaptics' deep commitment to becoming a leader in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, providing the essential silicon for an ecosystem of intelligent devices.
The core of the Astra platform is a highly scalable and unified AI-native architecture, which seamlessly integrates the company's proprietary NPU, CPU, GPU, and ISP components. This design is crucial for handling complex multimodal AI workloads, allowing devices to process and understand various data inputs like audio, video, and text simultaneously. With a performance range spanning from 10–50 TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second), the platform is built to efficiently run large language models (LLMs) and other sophisticated AI models locally. This local processing, or edge AI, is a key advantage, offering enhanced privacy, reliability, and lower latency by eliminating the constant need for a cloud connection.
To accelerate development for its partners, Synaptics is also introducing the Astra Machina™ AI Development Kit. This comprehensive kit provides developers with a full suite of tools, including a pre-trained LLM, a fine-tuning framework, and the Astra AI software stack. This robust support system is designed to drastically reduce the time and complexity involved in bringing new AI-powered products to market. By empowering developers, Synaptics is not just selling hardware but fostering a complete ecosystem to drive innovation across its target segments, from smart consumer devices to advanced industrial automation.
The strategic importance of the Astra launch is underscored by its timing and backing. Michael Hurlston, President and CEO of Synaptics, stated that the platform represents a "pivotal step" in the company's strategy, emphasizing that it is the culmination of years of investment and a core part of their future. This sentiment is reinforced by the financial perspective of Dean Butler, Synaptics' CFO, who highlighted the platform's potential to open up new, high-growth markets and drive significant long-term value. With the Astra Machina Development Kit available to select partners now and broader sampling of Astra SoCs planned for later this year, Synaptics is positioning itself at the forefront of the on-device AI revolution.
SOURCE TechPowerUp
