Ceva Highlights Breakthrough Year for AI Licensing and Physical AI Adoption in 2025
MWN-AI** Summary
Ceva, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA) experienced a transformative year in 2025, marked by significant advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) licensing and the adoption of Physical AI technologies. This year heralded a major leap for Ceva's AI licensing segment, with the company securing ten NeuPro™ neural processing unit (NPU) agreements, which contributed more than 20% of its annual licensing revenue.
As AI technology migrates from cloud infrastructure to physical devices, there is a heightened demand for optimized neural processing architectures, particularly for edge and hybrid AI models. Ceva is well-positioned as a key enabler in this transition, providing solutions that combine connectivity, sensing, and inference for smart edge devices.
Among the notable highlights for the year was a strategic licensing deal with a major PC original equipment manufacturer, which incorporated Ceva's NeuPro NPUs into its next-gen on-device AI architecture. This agreement underscores the importance of dedicated NPUs in enhancing AI functionalities within modern operating systems and applications.
Additionally, Ceva forged a comprehensive licensing agreement with Microchip Technology to incorporate AI capabilities across its microcontroller product families, reflecting a broader industry trend towards NPU standardization. The company also expanded its NPU engagements with clients such as ALi Corp and Nextchip, broadening its footprint in consumer electronics and automotive systems.
In 2025, Ceva also signed multiple AI Digital Signal Processor (DSP) agreements, complementing its NPU offerings and enhancing performance in applications like vision and audio. The expectation is that several customers will have functional silicon by the end of 2026, paving the way for increased royalty revenues as AI deployment accelerates.
CEO Amir Panush remarked on 2025 as a pivotal year, emphasizing the transition of AI in edge devices from experimentation to mainstream adoption, positioning Ceva strongly for future growth in the rapidly evolving landscape of Physical AI.
MWN-AI** Analysis
Ceva, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA) has emerged as a significant player in the artificial intelligence (AI) licensing space, marking 2025 as a transformative year for both its NPU (neural processing unit) and AI Digital Signal Processor (DSP) businesses. The company's decisive moves this past year make it worthwhile for investors to consider long-term positions as the AI landscape continues to evolve, particularly towards on-device applications.
In 2025, Ceva secured 10 NPU agreements, with AI now contributing over 20% to its annual licensing revenue. This increased focus on AI-driven solutions indicates a strong market demand for energy-efficient, scalable architectures that can facilitate edge and hybrid AI applications—a trend likely to accelerate as consumers increasingly adopt intelligent devices.
A notable achievement was its partnership with a major OEM in the PC market, validating Ceva's strategy to position NPUs in high-performance computational environments. Additionally, its licensing agreement with Microchip broadened Ceva's AI footprint in the microcontroller sector, underscoring a shift towards standardizing NPU architectures across semiconductor platforms.
Moreover, with six customers expected to launch silicon by the end of 2026, Ceva is poised to capitalize on a growing royalty stream as the industry transitions from trial phases to mass deployment of AI capabilities. This transition signals strong potential for future revenue growth.
Investors should closely monitor market conditions, competition, and geopolitical factors that could impact Ceva's growth trajectory. However, the combination of strategic partnerships, increased licensing revenue, and a robust AI product pipeline positions Ceva well for sustainable growth. As we look into 2026, the momentum in AI licensing could create significant upside potential for investors navigating this dynamic sector.
**MWN-AI Summary and Analysis is based on asking OpenAI to summarize and analyze this news release.
PR Newswire
ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ceva, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), the leading licensor of silicon and software IP for the smart edge, today announced that 2025 marked a breakthrough year for its artificial intelligence ("AI") licensing business, with 10 NeuPro™ neural processing unit ("NPU") agreements signed and with AI contributing more than 20% of annual licensing revenue in 2025.
As AI expands beyond the cloud into real-world devices, demand is accelerating for optimized, power-efficient neural processing architectures supporting both edge and hybrid AI models. This shift is driving broader adoption of on-device AI inference across diversified smart edge markets and further positions Ceva as a foundational enabler of Physical AI -- where connectivity, sensing and inference converge inside intelligent devices.
A key highlight of the year was a strategic NPU licensing agreement with one of the world's leading PC original equipment manufacturers, which selected Ceva's high-performance NeuPro NPUs as foundational IP for its next-generation on-device AI compute architecture. This design win validates Ceva's scalable NPU strategy, spanning high-performance architectures deployable across PC, automotive, advanced consumer and other compute-intensive platforms. It also underscores the rising importance of dedicated NPUs as AI capabilities become native to operating systems and applications across devices.
Earlier in the year Ceva achieved another notable highlight, signing a comprehensive NeuPro™ NPU portfolio license with Microchip Technology, one of the world's leading microcontroller and connectivity providers. Under the agreement, Microchip adopted Ceva's NPUs to embed AI capabilities broadly across its product families, reflecting a broader industry trend toward standardizing on proven NPU architectures as AI becomes a core feature across semiconductor platforms. Additional NPU engagements announced during the year included wins with ALi Corp and Nextchip, expanding Ceva's AI footprint across consumer electronics, video platforms, and automotive Advanced Driver Assistance Systems applications.
Throughout 2025, Ceva's NPU licenses spanned both ultra-low-power and high-performance inference, addressing audio, vision, video and multi-sensor AI workloads across consumer, automotive, industrial, PC and infrastructure markets. Several of these NPU wins were with existing high-volume connectivity customers expanding into AI, increasing content per device and strengthening long-term royalty potential. Across all NPU agreements, six customers are expected to have silicon back by the end of 2026, providing increasing visibility into future deployments and royalty ramps as the industry transitions from AI evaluation to deployment.
Complementing its NPU momentum, Ceva also signed multiple AI Digital Signal Processor ("DSP") licensing agreements in 2025 across automotive and consumer markets. These AI DSPs are increasingly deployed alongside NPUs, where they efficiently execute neural networks, perform real-time signal processing, and pre-process data from image sensors and other inputs before inference - particularly in vision, audio and sensor-rich applications. In many cases, these AI deployments are paired with Ceva's connectivity IP, enabling customers to optimize performance, power efficiency and system costs while supporting higher-value, multi-generation royalty streams and strengthening the company's licensing-to-royalty flywheel.
Overall, AI represented more than 20% of Ceva's licensing revenue in 2025, marking a material shift in revenue mix and a significant inflection point for the company's AI business, while establishing a growing base of future AI-related royalties. With an expanding pipeline of AI design wins, multiple customers approaching silicon, and broader adoption across diversified smart edge markets, Ceva expects to build on this momentum in 2026.
Amir Panush, Chief Executive Officer of Ceva, commented: "2025 marked a pivotal year for our AI strategy. The breadth of NPU and AI DSP licenses we signed - from microcontrollers and PCs to automotive and consumer devices - demonstrates that AI at the edge is moving from experimentation to deployment. As AI increasingly shifts into physical devices, the ability to combine connectivity, sensing and inference uniquely positions us to enable the next generation of Physical AI systems across the smart edge."
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that if they materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of Ceva to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. Forward-looking statements include statements about Ceva's positioning for sustainable future growth and to serve as a foundational technology provider for intelligent, connected devices, licensing agreement wins, future industry demand, our market position for the future, and expectations about future market. The risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause differing Ceva results include: the effect of intense industry competition; the ability of Ceva's technologies and products incorporating Ceva's technologies to achieve market acceptance; Ceva's ability to meet changing needs of end-users and evolving market demands; the lengthy sales cycle for IP and related solutions; Ceva's ability to diversify royalty streams and license revenues; geopolitical risks and instability, including the impact of tariffs and other trade measures and potential disruptions related to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East; and general market conditions and other risks relating to Ceva's business and industry, including, but not limited to, those that are described from time to time in our SEC filings. Ceva assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.
About Ceva, Inc.
Ceva powers the Smart Edge, bridging the digital and physical worlds to bring AI-driven products to life. Our Ceva AI fabric portfolio of silicon and software IP enables devices to Connect, Sense, and Infer – the essential capabilities for the intelligent edge. From 5G, cellular IoT, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and UWB connectivity to scalable Edge AI NPUs, AI DSPs, sensor fusion processors and embedded software, Ceva provides the foundational IP for devices that connect, understand their environment, and act in real time.
With more than 20 billion devices shipped and trusted by 400+ customers worldwide, Ceva is the backbone of today's most advanced smart edge products - from AI-infused wearables and IoT devices to autonomous vehicles and 5G infrastructure. Our differentiated solutions deliver seamless integration into existing design flows, total flexibility to combine solutions based on design needs and ultra–low–power performance in minimal silicon footprint, helping customers accelerate development, reduce risk, and bring innovative products to market faster. As technology evolves toward Physical AI, Ceva's IP portfolio lays the foundation for systems that are always connected, contextually aware, and capable of intelligent, real-time decision-making.
Visit us at www.ceva-ip.com and follow us on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
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SOURCE Ceva, Inc.
FAQ**
How does CEVA Inc.'s 2025 achievement of more than 20% annual licensing revenue from AI position the company for future growth in the competitive AI landscape?
What strategic advantages does CEVA Inc. see in its NeuPro™ NPU agreements with major OEMs, and how might these agreements drive the adoption of Physical AI technologies?
Can CEVA Inc. provide insights into how its partnerships, such as with Microchip Technology and ALi Corp, will influence the broader AI ecosystem and contribute to long-term royalty streams?
What are CEVA Inc.'s expectations for the NPU and AI DSP segments in 2026, and how does the company plan to ensure continued momentum in AI deployment across diversified smart edge markets?
**MWN-AI FAQ is based on asking OpenAI questions about CEVA Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA).
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