Raspberry Pi's AI HAT+ 2: Local Gen AI Powerhouse?

Raspberry Pi has introduced the AI HAT+ 2, an add-on module designed to bring generative AI capabilities directly to the Raspberry Pi 5. This new board, priced at $130, significantly enhances the Pi 5's AI processing power with its 8GB of onboard RAM and a Hailo 10H chip capable of 40 TOPS. It allows the Raspberry Pi 5 to run various generative AI models locally, such as Llama 3.2 and Qwen, while the main CPU remains available for other operations.

The AI HAT+ 2 supports training and fine-tuning AI models, demonstrating use cases like real-time text descriptions of camera feeds and language translation. For instance, a demo showcased translating French text to English using the Qwen2 model. This marks a step forward from last year's AI HAT+, which was primarily focused on image-based AI processing and retailed for a lower price of $70.

Despite its potential, early evaluations suggest that a standalone Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB of RAM might offer superior performance on supported models. This is attributed to the AI HAT+ 2's restricted 3W power draw compared to the Pi 5's 10W capability. While the HAT+ 2 offers dedicated AI processing, its additional RAM might not provide a significant advantage over simply opting for a higher-RAM Raspberry Pi model for greater flexibility and speed. Raspberry Pi has indicated that more AI models are planned for future updates.