Qualcomm Integrates AI Technology into Mobile Chips

By Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) – Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) announced on Monday that it is integrating technology initially developed for its laptop chips into its mobile phone chips, enhancing their capabilities for generative AI tasks.

The San Diego-based company is the largest seller of mobile phone chips in the world. In 2021, Qualcomm hired a team of former Apple engineers to design laptop chips, which were launched this year, facilitating AI features in Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)'s Windows operating system.

The newly developed custom computing technology, branded "Oryon," is now being incorporated into Qualcomm's mobile chips for the first time.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite chip has been redesigned to perform tasks like generating images and text. Qualcomm plans to provide software developers with specialized tools, in addition to those offered by Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s Android operating system, to utilize these new chip functionalities.

"AI has been one of those where I think Google is moving fast, but we have our own technology to offer that end developer," Chris Patrick, Qualcomm's senior vice president and general manager for mobile handsets, stated in an interview with Reuters.

Qualcomm announced that companies like Samsung Electronics (KS:005930), Asustek Computer, and Xiaomi (OTC:XIACF) will implement the new chip in their products.