Ambarella Accelerates Edge AI Innovation for Next Generation of Drones; Antigravity Deploys Ambarella’s CV5 AI SoC in Antigravity A1 Drone

Rhea-AI Summary

Ambarella (NASDAQ: AMBA) said it is accelerating edge AI for drones by expanding its CVflow AI SoC family, emphasizing high-quality imaging, low-power AI inference and on-device autonomy.

The company highlighted its CV5 AI SoC powering 8K imaging and integrated CVflow acceleration, and noted Antigravity is deploying CV5 in the Antigravity A1, billed as a 360 drone. Ambarella plans CES demonstrations the week of January 5, 2026.

Key Figures

Imaging resolution 8K imaging CV5 AI SoC used in Antigravity A1 drone

Autonomy levels L1 to L4 Targeted levels of autonomous robotics capabilities for drones

360 drone World’s first 360 drone Antigravity A1 position in drone market

CES timing Week of January 5th Invitation-only exhibition demonstrations in Las Vegas

Market Reality Check

$71.75 Last Close

Volume Volume at 882,900 shares is 0.76x the 20-day average, indicating subdued trading versus typical levels prior to this AI drone announcement. normal

Technical Shares at $72.52 are trading above the 200-day MA of $67.56, after a prior 52-week range of $38.86–$96.69.

Peers on Argus

AMBA gained 2.92% while key semiconductor peers like FORM, ONTO and ACLS also showed gains between 0.41% and 3.17%, but no peers appeared in the momentum scanner and there were no same-day peer headlines, pointing to a stock-specific AI drone narrative rather than a confirmed sector-wide move.

Historical Context

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Nov 25	Q3 FY26 earnings	Positive	+1.6%	Strong Q3 revenue growth and non-GAAP profitability with Q4 guidance.
Nov 07	Earnings call notice	Neutral	+5.3%	Scheduling and access details for upcoming Q3 FY26 earnings call.
Aug 28	Q2 FY26 earnings	Positive	+16.8%	Strong Q2 revenue, return to non-GAAP profit, and higher FY26 growth outlook.
Aug 07	Earnings call notice	Neutral	+2.6%	Announcement of timing and logistics for Q2 FY26 earnings call.

Pattern Detected

Recent earnings-related news has generally seen positive price alignment, while neutral conference-call notices also coincided with modest gains, suggesting investors have rewarded concrete financial progress and reacted mildly to procedural updates.

Recent Company History

Over the last few months, Ambarella has highlighted a strengthening financial profile and consistent edge AI positioning. Q2 FY2026 results on Aug 28 showed revenue of $95.5M and a sharp year-over-year increase, followed by Q3 FY2026 revenue of $108.5M on Nov 25 with continued growth. Earnings-related releases on Aug 28 and Nov 25 both saw positive 24-hour reactions of 16.78% and 1.56%, respectively. Today’s AI-focused drone announcement ties back to that edge AI growth narrative rather than introducing a new financial data point.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement underscores Ambarella’s strategy to deepen its presence in edge AI by powering the Antigravity A1 360 drone with its CV5 SoC, enabling 8K imaging and on-device inference. It builds on prior AI-tagged updates that showcased CVflow-based platforms and highlights drones as a growing end market. Investors following the story may track future design wins, adoption across commercial drone applications, and how these AI platform wins translate into revenue in upcoming earnings periods.

Key Terms

system-on-chips technical

"with high-performance, low-power system-on-chips (SoCs) that combine"

A system-on-chip is a single microchip that packs many functions of a computing system — processor cores, memory, graphics, connectivity and control circuits — onto one small piece of silicon, like a Swiss Army knife that replaces several separate tools. For investors, they matter because they lower cost, size and power needs while improving performance, making them central to growth and margins in smartphones, automotive electronics, data centers and Internet-of-Things devices.

edge ai technical

"Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA), an edge AI semiconductor company,"

Edge AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that process data directly on local devices or nearby servers rather than sending information to distant data centers. This allows for faster decision-making and real-time responses, similar to how a home security camera can instantly detect motion without needing to connect to a remote server. For investors, edge AI represents a growing trend toward more efficient, responsive technology that can create new opportunities across various industries.

image signal processing technical

"heritage in video compression and image signal processing that helped"

Image signal processing is the set of software and hardware steps that turns raw data from a camera or sensor into a clear, usable image — like assembling and cleaning up puzzle pieces so you can see the picture. For investors it matters because better processing can make cheaper sensors perform like premium ones, drive product differentiation, licensing revenue, power consumer and industrial adoption, and affect manufacturing costs and margins.

deep learning inference technical

"bring advanced computer vision and deep learning inference to power"

Deep learning inference is the process where an already-trained artificial intelligence system uses its learned patterns to analyze new data and produce a result—such as a prediction, classification, or recommendation. Think of it like a chef following a perfected recipe to make a dish for a customer: the quality, speed and cost of that cooking step determine user experience, how much computing and energy are needed, and therefore affect operating costs, product performance and scaling potential—key factors for investors.

on-device inferencing technical

"AI SoC for 8K imaging, as well as this SoC’s internal CVflow AI accelerator to do on-device inferencing,"

On-device inferencing runs artificial intelligence models directly on a user's device (phone, sensor, camera, or computer) so the device makes predictions or decisions locally instead of sending data to remote servers. Like a car with an onboard navigation computer rather than calling a dispatch center, it reduces delay, improves privacy and compliance, cuts ongoing cloud costs, and can enable new offline features—factors that influence demand for chips, software licensing, and services revenue.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

Building on Long Track Record in Aerial Imaging, Ambarella Expands Focus for On-Device AI, Enables Smarter Autonomy for Fast-Growing Drone Applications, Including Antigravity’s A1 – The World’s First 360 Drone

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA), an edge AI semiconductor company, today announced in advance of CES its reaffirmed commitment to advancing the drone market with high-performance, low-power system-on-chips (SoCs) that combine industry-leading video processing with on-device artificial intelligence (AI). As drones evolve from “flying cameras” to intelligent robotic platforms with higher autonomy, Ambarella is investing in technologies that help drone makers deliver higher image quality, lower latency decision-making, and more autonomous capabilities without relying on constant cloud connectivity.

A History Rooted in Aerial Imaging
Ambarella has a long-standing heritage in video compression and image signal processing that helped define modern aerial imaging. Over the past decade, the company’s SoCs have been widely adopted across camera-centric form factors, including products that demand stabilized, high-resolution video, efficient power consumption and consistent performance in dynamic lighting conditions. This foundation in imaging has positioned Ambarella to support the next wave of drone innovation, where video quality and on-device AI compute intelligence increasingly converge.

Edge AI is Becoming Central to Drones and Ambarella is Positioned to Win
Across the industry, drones are rapidly incorporating AI “on the edge” inside these edge-endpoint devices to reduce latency, improve reliability, enhance safety and enable real-time understanding of the environment. By running AI locally on the drone, manufacturers can deliver capabilities such as intelligent subject tracking, obstacle awareness, scene understanding and event detection while minimizing backhaul bandwidth and supporting operation in connectivity-challenged environments.

Ambarella’s CVflow® AI architecture and large portfolio of its CV families of SoCs, now in their third generation, are designed to bring advanced computer vision and deep learning inference to power and thermally constrained devices like drones, pairing AI acceleration with robust imaging pipelines to help OEMs build more capable airborne systems.

“Drones are quickly transforming into intelligent edge aerial robots, capturing, processing and understanding the world in real time,” said Fermi Wang, President and CEO of Ambarella. “Ambarella’s heritage in high-quality imaging, combined with our CVflow AI roadmap, enables drone makers to push more autonomy and more insight onto the drone itself, where every millisecond and every milliwatt matters.”

Commercial, Consumer and Prosumer Drone Use Cases Rising and Ambarella is Expanding its Focus
As regulations mature and organizations seek safer, faster and more cost-effective workflows, commercial, consumer and prosumer drone deployments continue to broaden. Applications such as infrastructure inspection, construction and surveying, precision agriculture, energy and utilities, public safety, and industrial site monitoring are driving demand for smarter sensing and actionable intelligence at the point of capture. Ambarella is actively exploring and expanding several engagements across these segments where customers increasingly value edge AI for real-time detection, classification, central domain control and decision support, alongside premium imaging for recording video to document 360 views of the flight path, as well as taking photos.

Antigravity Deploys Ambarella CV5 in Antigravity A1 – World’s First 360 Drone¹.
As a recent example of next-generation drone innovation, Antigravity is leveraging Ambarella’s CV5 AI SoC for 8K imaging, as well as this SoC’s internal CVflow AI accelerator to do on-device inferencing, highlighting how advanced video processing and on-device intelligence can be integrated in a modern aerial platform to deliver a differentiated user experience.

“The Antigravity A1 reflects our ambition to push drone imaging forward, capturing more detail, more reliably, in more situations,” said Antigravity CEO Michael Shabun. “By leveraging Ambarella’s CV5 SoC for high-quality imaging with its integrated CVflow architecture for on-device AI acceleration and inferencing, we can deliver intelligent capabilities at the edge while staying focused on efficiency and performance.”

Ambarella’s Drone-Forward Priorities
Ambarella’s ongoing drone innovation is centered on helping drone vendors deliver:

• Cinematic, compute-driven imaging with advanced ISP capabilities for challenging real-world conditions.
• On-device AI for perception and real-time understanding with reduced latency and bandwidth dependence.
• L1 to L4 levels of autonomous robotics capabilities.
• Efficient AI performance-per-watt, to support longer flight time and compact designs with minimized thermal-management components.
• A scalable AI SoC roadmap that will drive higher levels of autonomy for drones in the future.
  

Demonstrations
Ambarella will be demonstrating the capabilities of its CV5 AI SoC by providing visitors with the opportunity to try the Antigravity A1 drone at its invitation-only exhibition during CES, which takes place in Las Vegas the week of January 5^th. For more information or to schedule a demo tour, please contact your Ambarella representative or visit www.ambarella.com/products/aiot-industrial-robotics.

About Ambarella
Ambarella’s products are used in a wide variety of edge AI and human vision applications, including video security, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), electronic mirrors, telematics, driver/cabin monitoring, autonomous driving, edge infrastructure, drones and other robotics applications. Ambarella’s low-power systems-on-chip (SoCs) offer high-resolution video compression, advanced image and radar processing, and powerful deep neural network processing to enable intelligent perception, sensor fusion and planning. For more information, please visit www.ambarella.com.

Ambarella Contacts

• Media contact: Muneyb Minhazuddin, muneyb@ambarella.com, +1 408-400-1466
• Investor contact: Louis Gerhardy, lgerhardy@ambarella.com, +1 408-636-2310
• Sales contact: https://www.ambarella.com/contact-us/
  

All brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Ambarella reserves the right to alter product and service offerings, specifications, and pricing at any time without notice. © 2025 Ambarella. All rights reserved.

¹ The term "world's first" refers to the fact that, as of July 28, 2025, Antigravity has announced the market's first 8K all-in-one 360 drone. It captures high-quality 360 video directly without the need for an external 360 camera attachment. The drone features a built-in 360 camera, supports real-time data transmission, and allows users to adjust shooting parameters on the fly.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d1284de4-30d5-416f-ba65-2c7c4f6eaf3f

FAQ

What does Ambarella announce about edge AI for drones (AMBA) on December 22, 2025?

Ambarella announced an expanded focus on on-device AI for drones and promoted its CVflow SoC roadmap, highlighting the CV5 AI SoC for high-quality imaging and local inference.

What product is Antigravity deploying with Ambarella CV5 in the Antigravity A1 drone (AMBA)?

Antigravity is deploying Ambarella's CV5 AI SoC to enable 8K imaging and on-device CVflow AI inferencing in the Antigravity A1 drone.

How will Ambarella’s CV5 SoC affect drone capabilities for AMBA customers?

The CV5 SoC is positioned to provide advanced ISP-driven imaging plus on-device AI for lower latency perception, obstacle awareness and intelligent tracking.

When and where will Ambarella demonstrate the CV5 and Antigravity A1 (AMBA)?

Ambarella said it will offer invitation-only demos of the Antigravity A1 using CV5 during CES in Las Vegas the week of January 5, 2026.

What imaging and autonomy claims does Ambarella make for its drone roadmap (AMBA)?

Ambarella emphasizes 8K imaging, efficient AI performance-per-watt, and a scalable SoC roadmap intended to support L1 to L4 autonomous robotics capabilities.

How can investors or partners schedule a CV5 demo for the Antigravity A1 (AMBA)?

The company directs interested parties to contact an Ambarella representative or visit ambarella.com/products/aiot-industrial-robotics for demo information.