In an effort to support cutting-edge AI research in Europe and create innovative AI solutions made for the international market, AI pioneer Sepp Hochreiter, Company Builder Netural X, and PIERER Digital Holding are launching NXAI Ltd., focusing initially advancing the new European Large Language Model technology, xLSTM. Both the technology as a whole and the xLSTM algorithm have been developed entirely in Europe. The Johannes Kepler University Linz and NXAI are collaborating closely to put previous findings relating to xLSTM on the market.

Today, AI researcher Sepp Hochreiter and Company Builder Netural X Ltd., are announcing the launch of NXAI Ltd. in close cooperation with the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz, and its leading research center, the LIT AI Lab at the Linz Institute of Technology. Established in December 2023, NXAI will become a new AI research and product development center located in the heart of Europe, and laying the foundation to support competitive European AI applications on a global scale while simultaneously creating its own Large Language Model.

NXAI's first step will be to push ahead with cutting-edge technological research into Large Language Models (LLM) and, in particular, Hochreiter’s xLSTM algorithm. Initial findings reveal that xLSTM is more efficient (requires less computing capacity), faster, and, above all, more accurate than all of the previous LLMs. xLSTM is better at understanding text semantics than existing LLMs, enabling the system to understand and generate complicated texts. In addition, NXAI will conduct research into world-leading algorithmic methods in the area of deep learning to, for example, accelerate complex dynamic system simulations.

xLSTM, the European Large Language Model: The Algorithm is the Difference
In 1991, AI trailblazer Sepp Hochreiter paved the way to today's form of artificial intelligence by coming up with the LSTM (Long Short Term Memory) technology. In doing so, he opened the door to today's form of artificial intelligence. The technology remained the leading method in speech processing and text analysis up until 2017 and is still used billions of times in smartphones today. In 2023, the AI expert made another breakthrough in the form of xLSTM.

text, the higher the processing power during operations. The transformer computations increase quadratically according to the text length. By contrast, xLSTM calculations increase in a linear manner only, along with the text length, thereby using less processing power during operation. As complex tasks require more text for both the task description and the solution, this is a great advantage. Fortunately, xLSTM can, for example, facilitate industrial applications, especially if transformer models are too slow. Similar to transformer models, xLSTM has a phonetic memory. The algorithm is, however, equipped with an additional component that results in a closer resemblance to human verbal working memory, making the xLSTM algorithm much more powerful.

Thanks to its enhanced efficiency and text processing performance, xLSTM technology will undoubtedly set new standards in AI language processing.

NXAI will Drive the Growth of the LLM Revolution
The JKU and NXAI will partner to bring the latest findings relating to xLSTM to the market. NXAI's goal is to forge closer ties between science, academia, and industry in an effort to ensure that AI solutions are successfully transferred to the market. In addition to research activities, in the future, NXAI will also bring leading researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry experts together. Despite the research activities remaining independent and autonomous, selected industry partners will work closely with NXAI and researchers to transfer potential future AI developments efficiently into real-world applications. As a first step, PIERER Digital Holding (as a co-shareholder of NXAI) will secure funding.

Albert Ortig, CEO of NXAI and Netural X, states: "The USA and Asia are currently driving the latest developments. Europe, however, is not only home to this very cutting-edge technology and to researchers who have laid the foundations for these developments, but they have also driven the growth of these markets. The challenge now is to reintroduce the innovative spirit into the European economy and tackle real challenges with AI together. This is exactly what NXAI aims to accomplish."

Sepp Hochreiter, last year’s winner of the German AI Research Award, explains: "xLSTM gives us a unique opportunity to revolutionize AI technology right from the heart of Europe and challenge the dominance of transformer models. We definitely want to seize this opportunity. I am delighted that the JKU is partnering with NXAI. NXAI will provide us with initial start-up funding for much-needed computing capacity that will allow us to advance, test and, above all, scale xLSTM up."

JKU Rector Stefan Koch is pleased with this important partnership and remarked: "Artificial intelligence is not just a new technology, it is a revolution that is underway. The JKU’s own Sepp Hochreiter is one of the world's leading experts in this field and xLSTM provides the JKU with an opportunity to actively advance tomorrow's AI technology. We can also guarantee the inclusion of European values. Our partnership with NXAI confirms JKU's high priority in the field of research in artificial intelligence."

About NXAI
NXAI is committed to taking AI innovation and research in the European market to a globally competitive level and, to this end, researchers will work on advancements in Large Language Model in Linz. This is an initial innovative step intended toward creating the basis for advanced research and development in AI to support complex applications in various sectors. In addition to the company creators Sepp Hochreiter and the Austrian Company Builder Netural X, PIERER Digital Holding GmbH is also involved as a shareholder.

JKU Linz as an AI Hub
The JKU's Linz Institute of Technology (LIT) not only incorporates the field of AI into its interdisciplinary research universe by exploring and addressing the technology itself, but also examining its impact on society - such as AI and law, and human-robot interaction – as part of the JKU’s university-wide research focus on digital transformation. The JKU was one of the first European universities to introduce an academic degree program in Artificial Intelligence in 2019, and has been educating the AI pioneers of tomorrow ever since. www.jku.at, opens an external URL in a new window