Anker is pushing its earbuds beyond playback and calls by moving AI processing directly into the device. The company’s new THUS chip is designed to make that possible, and it is already embedded in the latest soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max.
This marks a notable shift for Anker, a brand long associated with power banks and chargers rather than custom semiconductor work. Instead of relying on external processing for more advanced audio functions, the company is bringing more of that workload closer to the earbuds themselves.
A custom AI chip for small audio devices
THUS was introduced at Anker Day 2026 as Anker’s first neural-network-based audio AI Compute-in-Memory chip. The company says the chip was created to help intelligent audio features run more effectively on compact devices.
Anker also claims THUS can deliver up to 150 times stronger AI computing power for environmental noise cancellation compared with its previous flagship earbuds generation. That claim stands out because AI processing in earbuds is usually constrained by both chip size and power consumption.
The chip uses a compute-in-memory approach rather than a conventional split between memory and processor. In this design, AI computation happens directly where the model is stored, which reduces the back-and-forth data movement that Anker says consumes significant power.
Steven Yang, founder and CEO of Anker Innovations, said AI chips have typically stored models in one place and performed computation in another. He described THUS as putting computation directly where the model lives.
What the chip enables in Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max
The first products to use THUS are the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max. Both are positioned around sound quality and communication clarity, not only music playback.
Anker equips the two models with Whisper Clear Calls, a feature that uses an AI neural network and a total of 10 sensors to improve call clarity. The setup includes eight MEMS microphones and two bone conduction sensors, which Anker says helps capture the user’s voice more accurately in busy environments.
That combination reflects a broader change in personal audio. Functions that often depended on remote processing are increasingly being handled on the device itself.
A more productive role for earbuds
The Liberty 5 Pro Max adds another layer by including a 1.78-inch AMOLED display on its charging case. That feature makes it stand out from typical earbuds and gives the case a more functional role.
It also includes AI Note-Taker, which can record meetings, generate automatic transcripts, and summarize key points directly on the device. Anker says the process can work without internet or cloud access.
That detail is important because it shows how far the product goes beyond standard audio use. The earbuds are being positioned as a productivity tool that can support everyday work tasks, not just listening and calling.
What this means for Anker’s audio strategy
With THUS, Anker is signaling that the next battleground in personal audio is no longer limited to design and sound tuning. Efficient on-device AI processing is becoming a key differentiator, especially as brands try to add smarter features to smaller hardware.
For now, Liberty 5 Pro Max is expected to arrive in Indonesia starting in June 2026. If that timeline holds, local users will be among the first to see how Anker’s custom AI chip changes what earbuds can do without depending on the cloud.
Source: inet.detik.com
