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Arm is leveling the playing field for AI startups by offering its cutting-edge Armv9 edge AI platform through its Flexible Access program. This initiative grants early-stage companies the opportunity to experiment with and refine their designs without upfront licensing costs, only incurring fees for the technology incorporated into their final products.

The Armv9 edge AI platform combines the potent Arm Cortex-A320 processor with the dedicated Arm Ethos-U85 NPU, enabling local execution of AI models directly on edge devices. Integrated security features, including Pointer Authentication Code (PAC) and Memory Tagging Extension (MTE), ensure robust on-device data protection.

Industry forecasts predict that AI will be the dominant technology driving IoT projects by 2028. Arm’s Cortex-A320 processor is slated for release in November 2025, followed by the Ethos-U85 NPU in 2026, positioning Arm to capitalize on this growing demand and empowering startups to innovate in the edge AI space.