Qualcomm has just made waves in the tech world, with its stock surging nearly 20%—the most significant jump in years. This surge follows the launch of groundbreaking next-generation data center chips designed to take on Nvidia’s overwhelming dominance in the AI data center chip market.
Introducing the AI200 and AI250 chips, slated for release in 2026 and 2027 respectively, Qualcomm is boldly expanding its horizons beyond the traditional mobile chip sector. These chips are engineered to support full liquid-cooled server rack systems, marking a decisive move into high-performance data center AI.
Key Features of the New Chips:
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The AI200 chip excels at large-scale inference for expansive language models and multimodal capabilities. With 768 GB of LPDDR memory per accelerator card, it provides high memory capacity at a competitive cost.
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The AI250 enhances this foundation with an innovative near-memory computing architecture, delivering over 10 times the effective memory bandwidth while significantly reducing power consumption. This feature allows for flexible, disaggregated inference and maintains performance efficiency in data center operations.
Both chips are backed by Qualcomm’s sophisticated hyperscaler-grade software stack, ensuring effortless deployment, integration with leading AI frameworks, and robust tools for scalable, secure generative AI.
Why is Qualcomm entering this lucrative market? It’s simple: the financial incentives are staggering. AI data center spending is projected to soar to approximately $6.7 trillion by 2030. Currently, Nvidia holds a staggering 90% of the AI accelerator market. The tech titans like OpenAI, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are actively seeking alternatives, creating a prime opportunity for Qualcomm to step in.
“With Qualcomm AI200 and AI250, we’re redefining what’s possible for rack-scale AI inference,” declared Durga Malladi, Qualcomm’s Senior VP and GM. “These pioneering solutions provide exceptional total cost of ownership while ensuring the flexibility and security vital for modern data centers.”
Incredibly, Qualcomm’s chips are already generating excitement, with Saudi Arabia’s AI startup Humain named as the first customer, aiming for 200 megawatts of compute capacity based on these new innovations starting next year.
This latest development confirms that Qualcomm is not just participating in the data center revolution; it’s poised to lead it. And as the market dynamics shift, there’s no doubt that Qualcomm is strategically positioned to carve out a significant share of this explosive growth.
Stay alert; the future of AI data centers is being reshaped right before our eyes—Qualcomm is firmly in the driver’s seat.
