Chipmaker Qualcomm, long known as the dominant force in smartphone technology, has announced its aggressive move into the burgeoning AI data center market.
The company on Monday unveiled a new line of AI inference-optimized chips, the Qualcomm AI200 and AI250, aimed directly at the high-growth segment currently led by rivals Nvidia and AMD. The news was met with enthusiasm by investors, with Qualcomm shares soaring by as much as 15%, the company’s biggest single-day gain in over six months.
According to Qualcomm’s official press release, the AI200 and AI250 are part of a “multi-generation data center AI inference roadmap”. They are built to deliver “rack-scale performance and superior memory capacity for fast generative AI inference at industry-leading total cost of ownership (TCO).”
The AI200, expected in 2026, supports up to 768 GB of LPDDR memory per card, allowing companies to run large AI models at lower costs. The follow-up AI250, planned for 2027, introduces what Qualcomm calls “an innovative memory architecture” that brings “a generational leap in effective memory bandwidth and efficiency for AI workloads.”
Durga Malladi, Qualcomm’s senior vice president and general manager for Data Center and Edge Solutions, said the new chips “redefine what’s possible for rack-scale AI inference.” He added, “These innovative new AI infrastructure solutions empower customers to deploy generative AI at unprecedented TCO, while maintaining the flexibility and security modern data centers demand.”
Figure A: Qualcomm’s AI Rack
Taking on Nvidia and AMD
The launch puts Qualcomm in direct competition with Nvidia, whose GPUs currently account for over 90% of the AI chip market, and AMD, which has been gaining traction as a secondary player.
Under CEO Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm has been steadily diversifying beyond its traditional smartphone business into automotive, PCs, and, most recently, AI infrastructure. The company’s foray into data centers marks a second attempt after its earlier Centriq processor line, launched in 2017, failed to gain traction.
The company is now focused on the booming AI market, backed by major investments across the tech industry. Qualcomm also recently agreed to acquire Alphawave, a semiconductor firm specializing in data center technologies, for about $2.4 billion.
The company has already secured its first major customer: Saudi Arabia’s AI startup HUMAIN.
“This agreement marks a major milestone in our journey to build a global hub for AI infrastructure, which helps enable Qualcomm Technologies’ data center expansion, driving high-performance low-power computing and energy-efficient AI processing at scale,” said Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN.
HUMAIN plans to begin deploying 200 megawatts of computing power based on Qualcomm’s new chips starting in 2026.
While Qualcomm’s late entry into the AI data center race poses challenges, its focus on cost, memory efficiency, and scalability could make it a serious competitor to the current major players.
Earlier this month, Qualcomm announced plans to acquire Arduino, the Italian open-source hardware and software company known for its developer-friendly boards and global community of creators.
