AMSTERDAM, Dec 10 (Reuters) - STMicroelectronics

, one of Europe's biggest computer chip companies, has

launched a new series of microcontrollers, its first for so

called edge AI and machine learning.

The French-Italian company said on Tuesday that it expects

the STM32N6 series to find applications in consumer and

industrial electronics to perform image and audio processing

that would otherwise require larger computers or data centres.

While generative AI algorithms such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or

Google's Gemini are trained and run from large data centres,

edge AI uses similar principles but less computing power for a

limited, local purpose, such as in a car, factory or wearable

device.

That removes the need to send large volumes of information

to a data centre to be processed and then returned, saving time

and electricity.