Ambiq's chips run below the voltage most chips need to switch on. That trick, which it calls SPOT, cuts power use two to five times. That lets a watch, a hearing device, or a sensor run much longer on one charge. By its IPO, Ambiq chips sat in over 270 million devices. When it listed in July 2025, the industry wanted AI on small battery devices, and power was the bottleneck.

Below the Threshold

Scott Hanson earned three electrical engineering degrees, including a Ph.D., at the University of Michigan. He founded the company in January 2010 as Cubiq Microchip and renamed it Ambiq Micro in 2012. Ordinary chips waste energy by running at higher voltages than they need. Ambiq's bet was that subthreshold design could work in mass-market products. It shipped more than 42 million units in 2024.

Edge AI on a Battery

Ambiq priced its offering at $24 a share in July 2025 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under AMBQ. Hanson served as chief technology officer, and Fumihide Esaka led the company as chief executive. Ambiq estimated that over 40 percent of its 2024 units ran AI algorithms. It aimed its chips at personal devices, medical devices, factories, and smart homes and buildings. It still trades on the NYSE as AMBQ.

Cover: A Boy Blowing on a Firebrand, Gerrit van Honthorst. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a boy blowing on a firebrand (a tiny spark of power).