NEW YORK and BELLEVUE, Wash., May 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- For 80 years, every chip ever built has moved data back and forth between memory and processor - consuming more than 90 percent of available power before a single calculation begins. At Anker Day in New York today, Anker Innovations announced it has ended that for consumer hardware. THUS™, the company's first proprietary AI chip, computes directly inside NOR Flash memory, eliminating the transfer entirely - a neural-net compute-in-memory (CIM) architecture the company says is the first ever commercialized in a consumer device. The product carrying it, the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, has already earned a Guinness World Records certification for the highest objectively measured speech quality score in TWS earbud history. Anker calls them Earbuds That Think.
THUS™: Breaking an 80-Year Assumption in Chip Design
Every chip built today descends from an architecture established in 1945 by mathematician John von Neumann. Its defining logic was divide and conquer: break any problem into discrete steps, translate those steps into code, and execute them one at a time. Memory and the processor can therefore be physically separated. Programs live in memory; the CPU fetches one instruction at a time, executes it and advances to the next.
AI breaks that assumption entirely. A neural network does not divide a problem into steps - it processes end-to-end, drawing on millions or billions of learned parameters all at once. Every inference requires every one of those parameters to make the round trip between memory and the processor. In a data center, that movement is an engineering cost. In a wearable device that is powered by a battery smaller than a fingernail, it is a wall: more than 90 percent of chip power is consumed by simply moving data.
Introducing THUS™ AI Chip Platform
The answer has long existed in nature. Neurons in the human brain do not separate where information is stored from where it is processed - they do both in the same place. THUS™ applies that same principle to silicon.
Rather than shuttling model parameters between physically separate memory and processor, THUS™ embeds computation directly inside NOR Flash memory cells. The model parameters never have to move. The energy previously consumed by that movement is redirected to actual computation. NOR Flash-based compute-in-memory also requires approximately one-sixth the physical footprint of SRAM-based alternatives, making it viable for the most constrained consumer devices.
"Every AI chip built until now stores the model on one side and does the computation on the other. To think, the device has to carry all those parameters across, many times per second, every single inference. THUS™ puts the computation where the model already lives. The model never has to move again."
- Steven Yang, Founder and CEO, Anker Innovations
Earbuds That Think: The First Consumer Products to Run THUS™ CIM AI
The soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max are the first two products to ship with the THUS™ chip. Their positioning is organized around three on-device intelligence layers the chip enables - understanding, adapting, and tuning - each representing a function earbuds could not credibly perform before neural-net AI became viable at this scale.
It Understands - Call Freely. Be Heard Clearly. / Meeting Ends With Plans, Not Messy Notes.
In April 2026, the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earned Guinness World Records certification for the "Highest speech quality score (G-MOS) for TWS earbuds" in objective testing - the measurable proof of what it means for an earbud to truly understand its speaker. The Liberty 5 Pro Max features identical earbud hardware and achieves equivalent call performance.
Behind that result is a system built differently from the ground up. Conventional earbuds rely on microphone arrays alone to separate voice from noise - a process where both signals share the same medium (air), making clean isolation increasingly difficult as the acoustic environment grows louder or more complex.
The Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max deploy a 10-sensor matrix - eight MEMS microphones and two bone conduction sensors - feeding a large neural-net model running entirely on-device via the THUS™ chip. The MEMS array captures the full acoustic environment; the bone conduction sensors simultaneously detect the mechanical vibration of the speaker's cranial bones - a signal physically coupled to the speaker's voice and structurally independent of airborne noise. The THUS™ chip cross-references both streams simultaneously, producing a far more precise isolation than microphone-only systems can achieve. Call Freely. Be Heard Clearly.
AI Note-Taker (Liberty 5 Pro Max)
The Liberty 5 Pro Max extends the understanding layer into meetings. Its charging case - operated through a 1.78-inch AMOLED display - records sessions without a connected phone, then generates transcripts, speaker identification, and action items via the soundcore app. The case's 512MB of onboard flash supports up to 12 hours of local recording; cloud transcription deletes audio immediately upon completion, with local files encrypted via AES-256 and all transmission secured by TLS 1.3. Meeting Ends With Plans, Not Messy Notes.
It Adapts - Instant Focus, Zero-Pressure All Day Long
Adaptive ANC 4.0 monitors external and residual in-ear noise at 384,000 samples per second, adjusting cancellation depth in real time across noise types - low-frequency mechanical vibration, mid-frequency office ambient, high-frequency voice - while simultaneously managing the in-ear pressure that sustained fixed-level ANC typically generates, reducing listening fatigue over extended use. Rated at up to 2x deeper cancellation than the Liberty 4 Pro.
It Tunes - Pure Sound, Just Right
HearID 5.0 builds a personal EQ profile from an in-app hearing test. AI Sound Enhancement reconstructs frequency content lost in Bluetooth compression, restoring up to 65% of the audio quality typically discarded in wireless transmission.
Both models: three-device Multipoint connectivity, Apple Find My, Google Fast Pair, IP55 dust and water resistance, Bluetooth 6.1. Battery: 6.5 hours with ANC on, 28 hours total with the charging case.
Pricing and Availability
The Liberty 5 Pro is available starting today for SGD 239 in Singapore on Shopee and Lazada, RM 699 in Malaysia on Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop, and ฿5,999 in Thailand on Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop, in Pearl Blue, Pearl White, Midnight Black and Rose Gold.
The Liberty 5 Pro Max is available starting today for SGD 299 in Singapore on Shopee and Lazada, RM 899 in Malaysia on Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop, and ฿7,999 in Thailand on Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop, in Titanium-Gold and Black.
15 Years, One Promise
The Liberty 5 Pro series launches at a milestone for Anker Innovations. For 15 years, Anker soundcore has been driven by a single promise: Seeking Ultimate Innovation in audio experience backed by the confidence of an 18-month warranty.
About soundcore
soundcore is a smart audio brand under Anker Innovations, committed to providing an immersive audio and video experience with premium wireless headphones, indoor and outdoor Bluetooth speakers and high-definition projectors. Soundcore is the world's No.1* wireless headphone brand by shipment volume among mainstream premium audio brands. For more information visit www.soundcore.com.
About Anker Innovations
Anker Innovations is a global consumer technology company driven by ultimate innovation, creating products that help people power, create, connect, and live more freely. Founded in 2011, Anker Innovations serves more than 200 million consumers across 146 countries and regions. Learn more at anker.com.
The Anker logo is a registered trademark of Anker Innovations.
DISCLAIMER
Statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may include forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company. We wish to caution you that such statements are just predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. The Company reserves all of its rights.
[1] All performance figures are based on internal Anker lab tests. The 150x AI computing power figure applies specifically to the environmental noise cancellation task and reflects the shift from rule-based DSP to neural-net AI processing. It is not a general performance claim and does not reflect a process node upgrade.
soundcore Liberty 5 Pro was certified by Guinness World Records in April 2026 as the "Highest speech quality score (G-MOS) for TWS earbuds (objective test)."
[2] Source: Euromonitor International (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., in terms of mainstream premium audio brands' global shipment volume of wireless headphones in 2025; mainstream premium audio brands refer to brands with ≥75% of revenues from audio equipments (headphones, speakers, etc.) and meet the criteria of mid-to-high-end brands in terms of pricing, brand positioning, and distribution channels; wireless headphones are headphones that pair with electronic devices (mobile phone, computer, etc.) using wireless connection technology (e.g., Bluetooth); research completed in Mar. 2026.
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
Earbuds That Think: Anker unveils soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max with Anker's First Neural-Net Chip
Earbuds That Think: Anker unveils soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max with Anker's First Neural-Net Chip
Earbuds That Think: Anker unveils soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max with Anker's First Neural-Net Chip
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The fund will invest in startups in SMU's flagship Urban SustaInnovator accelerator programme, which began incubating them from February 2026.
SINGAPORE, May 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore Management University (SMU) today announced the launch of the Urban SustaInnovator (USI) Fund, a US$10 million (S$12.69 million) investment programme designed to support startups emerging from USI, SMU's flagship accelerator for urban solutions and sustainability (USS) ventures for expansion in Singapore and across Asia. The fund will invest in USI's globally sourced and competition-vetted pipeline of early stage deep-tech startups from the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC).
USI was launched at the 12th edition of LKYGBPC held in September 2025 at SMU by Minister for National Development, Mr Chee Hong Tat, and was designed to incubate high-potential startups in the USS sector. The accelerator began incubating its first batch of startups in February 2026.
The USI Fund, believed to be South-east Asia's first university-anchored co-investment fund dedicated to urban solutions and sustainability, is integrated with the purpose-built accelerator that supports early-stage ventures addressing critical urban challenges – including decarbonisation, energy transition, the built environment, mobility, and circularity – as they move from validation to real-world deployment across Asian cities.
Professor Sun Sun Lim, SMU's Vice President (Partnerships & Engagement), said, "Urban sustainability innovation often fails not for lack of ideas, but for lack of capital that understands early–stage risk and long deployment cycles. The USI Fund addresses this pain point by co–investing with leading venture capital partners and backing deep-tech startups from SMU's robust global pipeline, providing targeted early–stage capital to help founders scale proven solutions into Asian urban markets."
Professor Lim, who is also the Chair of the USI Programme Management Committee, said that the Fund will co–invest alongside established venture capital partners under prevailing market terms, providing catalytic capital while benefiting from the commercial rigour and sector expertise of lead investors. The Fund is expected to make its first investments from the inaugural USI accelerator cohort, with deployments expected to commence by Q4 2026.
Built-in Pipeline from the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition
The competition attracted over 1,500 applications from more than 90 countries, creating a strong pipeline from which seven high-potential startups were selected for incubation under the USI accelerator programme. This gives the USI Fund privileged access to quality startups with demonstrated traction and strong alignment with priority urban sustainability themes.
The USI programme brings together public, private, and philanthropic partners to support these high–potential startups to anchor in Singapore and scale across Asia. The 12–month, hybrid, non–residential, zero–fee and equity–free programme provides founders with regional market access through SMU's growing network of overseas centres in the region, fundraising and pilot support, as well as mentorship and ecosystem connectivity.
The programme is supported by a 'Singapore Inc' Advisory Board comprising venture capitalists, scientists, corporates, and regulators, providing founders with multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary guidance from early validation through to regional expansion.
Inaugural Cohort Demonstrates Early Traction
The seven startups in the inaugural USI accelerator cohort are showing significant progress across capital raise, deployment and international validation.
Qarbotech, a Malaysia–based nanotechnology company developing photosynthesis–enhancing materials for agriculture, has gained global visibility after winning the Grand Prix at SusHi Tech 2026 and securing a pilot project with Tokyu Fudosan Group. MacroCycle, a US–based startup specialising in chemical upcycling of PET plastics, has attracted institutional backing from Volta Circle, the investment platform of the Lohia family which owns Indorama Corporation, while also being recognised as a finalist at Temasek Foundation's The Liveability Challenge 2026.
Commercial progress is also evident among ventures that have moved beyond proof–of–concept.
Inviscid AI, a Singapore company focused on real–time thermodynamic simulation using physics–informed neural networks, has reported eightfold revenue growth since joining the USI programme. Sesame Sustainability, an AI–driven industrial decarbonisation software platform founded by alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has secured paid pilot engagements with Swedish multinational ABB and received strong interest from a strategic investor. Smart Tire Company, a US–based venture commercialising airless tyres derived from shape–memory alloy technology, is advancing pilot projects linked to NASA–affiliated programmes. Mimicrete, a UK based company working on self–healing concrete solutions, has commenced a pilot in Singapore with The GEAR by Kajima. Pronoe, a French company focused on carbon capture through modular ocean alkalinity systems, is working on a carbon removal pre–purchase agreement project with Frontier, backed by Meta and Google.
Both Qarbotech and Mimicrete are also in the process of establishing or expanding their presence in Singapore, underscoring the city's role as a regional launchpad for deep tech commercialisation and scale–up.
Advancing the 'Teaching Accelerator' Model
In line with SMU's emphasis on experiential and practice–oriented learning, another important benefit of the USI Fund is that it enables SMU students to learn directly from live ventures and real investment decisions through interactions with the founders and mentors on the USI programme, said Prof Lim.
She said, "Selected SMU students are embedded across stages of the USI platform – from startup evaluation and market analysis to diligence and portfolio support – allowing them to develop venture literacy, climate and sustainability insight, commercialisation know-how and applied decision–making skills beyond the classroom."
"By integrating capital deployment with deep experiential learning, the USI Fund reinforces SMU's mission as a global city university, where education, innovation, and real–world impact are closely intertwined," she added.
For more information, please visit https://iie.smu.edu.sg/usi
About SMU IIE
The Singapore Management University's Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) empowers aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators to create positive change. It offers tailored training programmes, an equity-free incubator, and a vibrant community that connects innovators through events and networking opportunities, including the renowned Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC). For more information: https://iie.smu.edu.sg
About SMU
Established in 2000, Singapore Management University (SMU) is recognised for its disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research that addresses issues of global relevance, impacting business, government, and society. Its distinctive education, incorporating innovative experiential learning, aims to nurture global citizens, entrepreneurs and change agents. With more than 13,000 students, SMU offers a wide range of bachelors, masters and PhD degree programmes in the disciplinary areas associated with six of its eight schools - Accountancy, Business, Computing, Economics, Law and Social Sciences. Its seventh school, the SMU College of Integrative Studies, offers degree programmes in deep, integrative interdisciplinary education. The College of Graduate Research Studies, SMU's eighth school, enhances integration and interdisciplinarity across the various SMU postgraduate research programmes that will enable students to gain a holistic learning experience and well-grounded approach to their research. SMU also offers a growing number of executive development and continuing education programmes. Through its city campus, SMU focuses on making meaningful impact on Singapore and beyond through its partnerships with industry, policymakers and academic institutions. https://www.smu.edu.sg/
The fund will invest in startups in SMU's flagship Urban SustaInnovator accelerator programme, which began incubating them from February 2026.
SINGAPORE, May 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore Management University (SMU) today announced the launch of the Urban SustaInnovator (USI) Fund, a US$10 million (S$12.69 million) investment programme designed to support startups emerging from USI, SMU's flagship accelerator for urban solutions and sustainability (USS) ventures for expansion in Singapore and across Asia. The fund will invest in USI's globally sourced and competition-vetted pipeline of early stage deep-tech startups from the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC).
USI was launched at the 12th edition of LKYGBPC held in September 2025 at SMU by Minister for National Development, Mr Chee Hong Tat, and was designed to incubate high-potential startups in the USS sector. The accelerator began incubating its first batch of startups in February 2026.
The USI Fund, believed to be South-east Asia's first university-anchored co-investment fund dedicated to urban solutions and sustainability, is integrated with the purpose-built accelerator that supports early-stage ventures addressing critical urban challenges – including decarbonisation, energy transition, the built environment, mobility, and circularity – as they move from validation to real-world deployment across Asian cities.
Professor Sun Sun Lim, SMU's Vice President (Partnerships & Engagement), said, "Urban sustainability innovation often fails not for lack of ideas, but for lack of capital that understands early–stage risk and long deployment cycles. The USI Fund addresses this pain point by co–investing with leading venture capital partners and backing deep-tech startups from SMU's robust global pipeline, providing targeted early–stage capital to help founders scale proven solutions into Asian urban markets."
Professor Lim, who is also the Chair of the USI Programme Management Committee, said that the Fund will co–invest alongside established venture capital partners under prevailing market terms, providing catalytic capital while benefiting from the commercial rigour and sector expertise of lead investors. The Fund is expected to make its first investments from the inaugural USI accelerator cohort, with deployments expected to commence by Q4 2026.
Built-in Pipeline from the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition
The competition attracted over 1,500 applications from more than 90 countries, creating a strong pipeline from which seven high-potential startups were selected for incubation under the USI accelerator programme. This gives the USI Fund privileged access to quality startups with demonstrated traction and strong alignment with priority urban sustainability themes.
The USI programme brings together public, private, and philanthropic partners to support these high–potential startups to anchor in Singapore and scale across Asia. The 12–month, hybrid, non–residential, zero–fee and equity–free programme provides founders with regional market access through SMU's growing network of overseas centres in the region, fundraising and pilot support, as well as mentorship and ecosystem connectivity.
The programme is supported by a 'Singapore Inc' Advisory Board comprising venture capitalists, scientists, corporates, and regulators, providing founders with multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary guidance from early validation through to regional expansion.
Inaugural Cohort Demonstrates Early Traction
The seven startups in the inaugural USI accelerator cohort are showing significant progress across capital raise, deployment and international validation.
Qarbotech, a Malaysia–based nanotechnology company developing photosynthesis–enhancing materials for agriculture, has gained global visibility after winning the Grand Prix at SusHi Tech 2026 and securing a pilot project with Tokyu Fudosan Group. MacroCycle, a US–based startup specialising in chemical upcycling of PET plastics, has attracted institutional backing from Volta Circle, the investment platform of the Lohia family which owns Indorama Corporation, while also being recognised as a finalist at Temasek Foundation's The Liveability Challenge 2026.
Commercial progress is also evident among ventures that have moved beyond proof–of–concept.
Inviscid AI, a Singapore company focused on real–time thermodynamic simulation using physics–informed neural networks, has reported eightfold revenue growth since joining the USI programme. Sesame Sustainability, an AI–driven industrial decarbonisation software platform founded by alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has secured paid pilot engagements with Swedish multinational ABB and received strong interest from a strategic investor. Smart Tire Company, a US–based venture commercialising airless tyres derived from shape–memory alloy technology, is advancing pilot projects linked to NASA–affiliated programmes. Mimicrete, a UK based company working on self–healing concrete solutions, has commenced a pilot in Singapore with The GEAR by Kajima. Pronoe, a French company focused on carbon capture through modular ocean alkalinity systems, is working on a carbon removal pre–purchase agreement project with Frontier, backed by Meta and Google.
Both Qarbotech and Mimicrete are also in the process of establishing or expanding their presence in Singapore, underscoring the city's role as a regional launchpad for deep tech commercialisation and scale–up.
Advancing the 'Teaching Accelerator' Model
In line with SMU's emphasis on experiential and practice–oriented learning, another important benefit of the USI Fund is that it enables SMU students to learn directly from live ventures and real investment decisions through interactions with the founders and mentors on the USI programme, said Prof Lim.
She said, "Selected SMU students are embedded across stages of the USI platform – from startup evaluation and market analysis to diligence and portfolio support – allowing them to develop venture literacy, climate and sustainability insight, commercialisation know-how and applied decision–making skills beyond the classroom."
"By integrating capital deployment with deep experiential learning, the USI Fund reinforces SMU's mission as a global city university, where education, innovation, and real–world impact are closely intertwined," she added.
For more information, please visit https://iie.smu.edu.sg/usi
About SMU IIE
The Singapore Management University's Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) empowers aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators to create positive change. It offers tailored training programmes, an equity-free incubator, and a vibrant community that connects innovators through events and networking opportunities, including the renowned Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC). For more information: https://iie.smu.edu.sg
About SMU
Established in 2000, Singapore Management University (SMU) is recognised for its disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research that addresses issues of global relevance, impacting business, government, and society. Its distinctive education, incorporating innovative experiential learning, aims to nurture global citizens, entrepreneurs and change agents. With more than 13,000 students, SMU offers a wide range of bachelors, masters and PhD degree programmes in the disciplinary areas associated with six of its eight schools - Accountancy, Business, Computing, Economics, Law and Social Sciences. Its seventh school, the SMU College of Integrative Studies, offers degree programmes in deep, integrative interdisciplinary education. The College of Graduate Research Studies, SMU's eighth school, enhances integration and interdisciplinarity across the various SMU postgraduate research programmes that will enable students to gain a holistic learning experience and well-grounded approach to their research. SMU also offers a growing number of executive development and continuing education programmes. Through its city campus, SMU focuses on making meaningful impact on Singapore and beyond through its partnerships with industry, policymakers and academic institutions. https://www.smu.edu.sg/
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
Singapore Management University Launches South-east Asia's First University-Anchored Fund Dedicated to Urban Solutions & Sustainability
