The formation of working groups focused on Physical AI, Security, and Interoperability marks a new era in edge AI, emphasizing safety and community collaboration alongside a key partnership with LF Edge.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The EDGE AI FOUNDATION, the world’s largest community of edge AI developers, technology makers, and academia, today announced the formation of three new Working Groups alongside a new strategic partnership with LF Edge. The launch of these initiatives represents a new era in edge AI, where artificial intelligence is being driven out of the lab and into real-world scenarios with the rigorous safety, security, and community collaboration required for commercial success.

To accelerate the adoption and operationalization of edge computing, the Foundation has established the following foundational Working Groups:

Physical AI / Robotics Working Group Led by NXP® Semiconductors, this group includes representatives from AWS, Arduino, Analog Devices, DeepX, and Johns Hopkins University.

• Importance: Bridging the gap between intelligent algorithms and mechanical action is critical to automating physical tasks and solving the global labor shortage. This group will define the frameworks required for autonomous systems to operate safely and effectively in human environments.
• “Making trusted physical AI a reality requires robust collaboration across the entire ecosystem,” said Jerome Legros, Vice President and General Manager, Robotics, NXP. “This working group unites industry and academic leaders to build the necessary frameworks for robotics and autonomous systems to operate intelligently, safely, and effectively in our everyday environments.”

Security Working Group Led by Exein and Dell.

• Importance: As intelligence moves to the edge, securing decentralized devices against emerging threats is paramount. This group will focus on defining best practices and robust architectures for protecting edge AI models, data pipelines, and end-user privacy at the point of action.
• “Security can no longer be an afterthought or a bolted-on solution in edge deployments,” said Channa Samynathan / VP, Integrations & Partner Strategy of Exein. “Our goal is to establish a unified, proactive security posture that protects edge infrastructure from the silicon layer all the way up through the application layer – Secured by Design.”

Interoperability & Standards Working Group Led by STMicroelectronics and NXP.

• Importance: Interoperability is the linchpin of scale. This group is dedicated to establishing common protocols, benchmarks, and standards to ensure seamless integration and communication across highly diverse edge hardware and software ecosystems.

Strategic Partnership with LF Edge

In conjunction with the new Working Groups, the EDGE AI FOUNDATION has established a strategic partnership with LF Edge, an open source umbrella organization within the Linux Foundation building a vendor-neutral, interoperable framework for distributed edge computing, spanning hardware, silicon, cloud, and operating system environments. This collaboration will align LF Edge’s open-source reference projects with the Foundation’s Working Group efforts.

By integrating these efforts, the partnership will drive repeatable, proven edge AI examples into the industry faster. Developers and enterprises will benefit from reference architectures that natively incorporate the appropriate safety, security, and standards-based approaches championed by the new working groups.

“Partnering with LF Edge, in addition to these key new working groups, allows us to turn our best practice initiatives into tangible, deployable code faster than ever,” said Pete Bernard, CEO of the EDGE AI FOUNDATION. “Together, we are equipping developers and commercial customers with the repeatable, secure, and best practices reference architectures they need to scale edge AI in the real world with confidence.”

“This collaboration brings together the best of both worlds—LF Edge’s robust open-source edge frameworks for distributed edge infrastructure and the EDGE AI FOUNDATION’s broad global community,” said Arpit Joshipura, General Manager, Networking, Edge, and IoT at the Linux Foundation. “By aligning our projects with their working groups, we are accelerating the delivery of secure, scalable, and interoperable edge AI solutions for ecosystems worldwide.”

Join Us at EDGE AI Taipei 2026

Industry leaders, developers, and partners are invited to learn more about these new working groups and reference architectures at the upcoming EDGE AI Taipei 2026 event, taking place October 22-23, 2026. The event will feature deep-dive sessions, hands-on workshops, and networking opportunities focused on the future of Physical AI, edge security, and small model language model deployment.

To register for the event, please visit: taipei2026.edgeaifoundation.org.

For more information about the EDGE AI FOUNDATION and its new Working Groups, please visit wiki.edgeaifoundation.org.

About the EDGE AI FOUNDATION The EDGE AI FOUNDATION (a California-based 501(c)(3)) is the world’s largest community of edge AI developers, technology makers, and academia, serving as the global hub for energy-efficient edge AI technologies. With more than 200,000 developers and practitioners worldwide, the Foundation spans tinyML to agentic AI, physical AI, and neuromorphic computing—transforming AI at the network’s edge and uniting industry leaders to drive innovation, solve global challenges, and democratize AI technologies. Learn more at www.edgeaifoundation.org.

Media Relations: EDGE AI FOUNDATION, media@edgeaifoundation.org

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