Qualcomm on Monday unveiled two artificial intelligence chips for data centers, with commercial availability starting next year, as it seeks to diversify its business beyond smartphones and expand into the growing AI infrastructure market.
Qualcomm shares rose nearly 15% following the news.
The new chips, called AI200 and AI250, are designed to improve memory capacity and run AI (inference) applications, and will be available in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Global investment in AI chips has soared as cloud providers, chipmakers and enterprises race to build infrastructure capable of supporting complex and large language models, chatbots and other generative AI tools.
However, Nvidia chips underpin much of the current AI boom.
Also read: Qualcomm changes its chips with new Arm technology; Competition intensifies with Apple and MediaTek
Qualcomm seeks to strengthen presence in the AI race
To strengthen its AI portfolio, Qualcomm agreed in June to purchase Alphawave, a company that designs semiconductor technology for data centers, for approximately $2.4 billion.
In May, Qualcomm also announced that it would manufacture custom central processing units (CPUs) for data centers that use Nvidia technology to connect to the company’s artificial intelligence chips.
Qualcomm said the new chips are compatible with common AI frameworks and tools, with advanced software support, adding that they will reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) for businesses.
The San Diego-based company also introduced accelerator cards and racks based on the new chips.
Earlier this month, competitor Intel announced a new AI chip called Crescent Island for the data center, scheduled for release next year.
With information from Reuters
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