Focus AI and DEEPX to Ship Korean NPU-Based AI Servers in January

Focus AI will launch its first domestically made AI server in January under a mass-production agreement signed on October 30 with DEEPX, an ultra-low-power NPU (neural processing unit, a chip designed specifically to run AI computations) designer. The deal commits both firms to specific shipment schedules rather than vague cooperation. That claim comes from the companies themselves, and no shipment volumes were disclosed.

The agreement goes beyond a standard memorandum of understanding. It assigns roles and scope across the full commercialization path: algorithm porting and validation, system integration, chip supply for mass production, and on-site testing. What it does not specify publicly is pricing, order volumes, or revenue targets.

What does the product actually do?

The server performs AI computations on site that cameras cannot handle. It installs into existing CCTV environments without camera replacement, enabling fire detection, fall detection, and crowd-density analysis. Focus AI will design and produce the hardware and optimize its video analytics algorithms for DEEPX's NPU. DEEPX will verify the stability of those algorithms, provide integration support, and supply chips.

The companies will start with a model for small worksites, then expand the lineup by worksite size. Preloaded algorithms will include:

• object recognition and people counting
• fall and fire detection for safety monitoring
• crowd-density analysis

Why the silicon matters

DEEPX's NPU is fabricated on Samsung Electronics' 5-nanometer process and draws 1–5 W during AI inference, a power envelope suited to equipment that runs continuously, such as surveillance systems. Since beginning mass production in August 2025, DEEPX has secured 90 commercial purchase orders worth approximately $15.26 million across roughly 10 countries. The company plans to expand commercialization partnerships in AI video analytics on the basis of this deal.

Those figures describe orders, not deliveries, and DEEPX did not break down how many units the $15.26 million represents.

Who buys it?

Focus AI targets South Korea's AI box market, which Chinese-made products currently dominate. The company argues that overseas NPU-based products also face supply-stability limits, while demand for domestic equipment grows in security, public-sector, and local-government fields. Domestic demand is a stated assumption, not a published market figure.

The company sees an opening in the shortage of commercial products priced for small and medium worksites. Large sites have relied on expensive PC-server-plus-GPU combinations; smaller ones have largely gone without advanced analytics. Focus AI plans to control costs through in-house design and to speed on-site response using DEEPX's technical support inside Korea. No target price point was announced.

Industry observers note that adding analytics to existing CCTV, rather than replacing cameras, could reduce adoption burdens. Power costs, maintenance, semiconductor supply stability, and support systems will decide competitiveness. Those factors remain untested until the January launch.

Focus AI is also pursuing security- and safety-related certifications required to supply public institutions and major industrial sectors, intending to use them to expand into public-sector and industrial markets.

What the executives said

"This agreement goes beyond a declaration of cooperation and sets out specific product shipment schedules and action plans for mass production," said Gu Hyeongmo, CEO of Focus AI. "By combining domestic NPUs with hardware we designed ourselves and validated algorithms, we will introduce our first domestically made AI server next January."

Kim Nok-won, CEO of DEEPX, said that "starting mass-production cooperation with a Korean finished-product company in the security video sector means that the deployment and commercialization of domestically made AI semiconductors in actual products are expanding."

Both statements describe intent. Whether the January deadline holds, and at what cost to buyers, will be verifiable only when the first units ship.