Scientists at Tsinghua University and Peking University in China have developed a new class of flexible AI chips called FLEXI, a new family of flexible chips. These chips are as thin as a strand of human hair yet capable of full computing power, which is, of course, a breakthrough with far-reaching implications for the future of electronics, wearable tech, and smart fabrics.
These tiny chips are not like the rigid silicon chips we’re used to in phones or computers. No, it's a little different from that. Instead of being hard and brittle, FLEXI are built on stretchable, elastic materials, allowing them to bend, twist, and fold without breaking. They are thinner than a human hair, flexible enough to be folded thousands of times, and incorporate AI.
The core innovation is an integrated circuit embedded directly inside a fiber, essentially turning a thread as fine as human hair (that's about 70 micrometers of thickness) into a fully functional computing unit. According to the paper the scientists published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, the chips can handle complex AI tasks, such as processing data from body sensors to identify health indicators, such as irregular heartbeats, in real time.
How FLEXI Works
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| Overview of FLEXI and its key attributes. (Source: Nature) |
FLEXI is comparable at about 70 micrometers in thickness and has a circuit density of about 100,000 transistors per centimeter, rivaling the densities seen in traditional computer chips. The fiber can bend, stretch, and withstand mechanical stress that would normally destroy rigid chips.
The core idea: instead of printing circuits onto a flat board, the researchers fabricated the chips on elastic polymer sheets and rolled them into tight and spiral microstructures, a design inspired in part by how sushi is rolled. This enables the circuits to maintain connectivity in a very small and flexible format.
The elastic polymer sheet fibers from which the chip's circuits are fabricated are designed to use low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS), eliminating the need for data to travel between different parts of the chip, saving time and power, and also making it easier for the chips to compute and make decisions without needing external processors, unlike most current wearables.
AI is also hardwired into the chip's circuitry, meaning that memory components perform calculations on the data stored there. The scientists put the chips through a series of tortures to test the durability; they survive 40,000 bend cycles, stretches over 30% beyond their length, and folds to a radius of just one millimeter without failure.
According to lab tests reported in media coverage of the research, the chip was pressed under the weight of a 15.6-ton container truck and still remained functional after the test. This durability shows a dramatic improvement over conventional chips, which can crack or fail under much less stress.
How FLEXI Could Be Used
In addition to the durability tests performed on FLEXI, the scientists also carried out real-world tests on the chips. The real-world implications were wide-ranging, from smart wearables to interactive fabrics that act in the form of a computer screen, health monitor, and control interface that responds to touch, movement, and signals from the environment.
They also put FLEXI through practical health trials with volunteer participants. The chip used real human data to prove and spot abnormal heart rhythms with an accuracy of 99.2 percent and correctly recognized everyday activities like walking and cycling 97.4 percent of the time.
Like I said earlier, the chips are designed to save time and power. During the tests, the chip consumed less than 1% of the energy of a standard chip. The chip is also affordable, designed to cost less than $1 each to mass-produce. According to what the scientists wrote in the paper, "FLEXI delivers a cost-effective, high-yield, and robust solution capable of withstanding mechanical stress and ensuring long-term operational stability."
These scientists' work represents a real departure from how chips have been built, which were flat or rigid silicon wafers, and integrates computing directly into flexible materials. Don't be surprised if you start seeing people wearing clothes that are truly intelligent.
