Arm Holdings, the chip design firm, announced it is expanding its Flexible Access licensing programme in an effort to attract more device makers and startups developing on-device AI.

The programme will now cover the Armv9 edge AI platform, aiming to lower the entry barrier for startups looking to build upon Arm’s AI chip designs.

Companies are able to use the chip design tools and training under the Flexible Access programme for little to no cost so they can create and test new chip designs, shortening design cycles and allowing for more innovation.

The new addition to the programme sees Arm trying to expand into the edge AI market, which will see AI systems being run directly on devices rather than being processed on the cloud.

The Armv9 Edge AI platform was introduced earlier this year, and features the Arm Cortext-A320 CPU and the Arm Ethos-U85 NPU which enable on-device AI models with over one billion parameters, as well as the Armv9 security technologies to protect critical applications and data.

The platform is specifically geared towards IoT projects – research from VDC shows that by 2028 AI will be the dominant technology used across IoT projects.

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The move could strengthen Arm’s ties with on-device AI providers and AI startups which may be priced out by expensive licenses. Arm is facing steep competition from Nvidia, which has seen its market value skyrocket during the race for AI dominance.

Arm says that over 300 firms have already joined the programme, leading to 400 completed chip designs ready for building.

While Nvidia’s stocks continue to climb, Arm gained a win as Qualcomm selected the firm’s v9 design as its flagship chip, according to exclusive Reuters sources.