The Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) share price is currently trading 11.11% higher for the day. It marks the fifth day of gains for the artificial intelligence (AI) company, in an extraordinary run which has seen the Brainchip share price rise from 42.5 cents to 65 cents — a 52% rise.
What's behind the Brainchip share price momentum?
Despite being no recent news out of the AI provider, it is likely a number of announcements in late December are driving the Brainchip share price.
New deal inked with NASA
On 23 December, Brainchip announced that the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had placed an order for its Akida Early Access Evaluation Kit.
Under the agreement, the kit will enable NASA to evaluate how the Akida technology can be used in programs needing a neuromorphic processor that meets spaceflight requirements. In exchange, BrainChip will collect a payment that offsets expenses to provide ongoing support.
According to the company, its Akida processor is well suited for spaceflight and aerospace applications:
The device is a complete neural processor and does not require an external CPU, memory or Deep Learning Accelerator. Reducing component count, size and power consumption are paramount concerns in spaceflight and aerospace applications.
Additionally, Akida provides incremental learning. With incremental learning, new classifiers can be added to the network without retraining the entire network. The benefit in spaceflight and aerospace applications may be significant as real-time local incremental learning allows continuous operation when new discoveries or circumstances occur.
Licensing first
Additionally, 23 December also saw another significant announcement with Brainchip signing its first ever intellectual property license agreement for Akida.
The agreement states that BrainChip will deliver its Akida technology to Renesas Electronics America for use as a system on chip product.
About the Brainchip share price
Brainchip needs little introduction, being one of the most frequently traded shares on the ASX on a regular basis.
The company listed on the ASX back in late 2011 and initially could not catch a break, with the Brainchip share price falling by 80% in the 8 years since. However, 2020 was been a turning point for the small cap after being added into the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX).
Its shares had a remarkable year, rising by 1,220%, even reaching a market valuation of $1 billion in September.
