Qualcomm announced this Monday (27) the launch of new artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator chips, marking its entry into the semiconductor market for data centers, until now dominated by Nvidia.
The news represents a strategic change for the company, which has traditionally focused on chips for wireless connectivity and mobile devices.
The new chips, called AI200 and AI250, are scheduled to be launched in 2026 and 2027, respectively, and can be integrated into complete rack systems, with liquid cooling, capable of housing up to 72 units functioning as a single computer.
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Qualcomm bases its chips for data centers on the neural processing units (NPUs) present in its smartphone processors, known as Hexagon.
Qualcomm highlights that its chips are focused on inference — the execution of AI models — and promise lower operating costs and energy consumption comparable to Nvidia systems.
The company also plans to sell components separately, allowing large customers, such as cloud providers, to build their own custom systems.
The AI chip market is the fastest growing technology segment, with investments estimated at US$6.7 trillion by 2030, according to consultancy McKinsey.
Currently, Nvidia holds more than 90% of the market, followed by AMD, which has also attracted interest from startups such as OpenAI, which is looking for alternatives to diversify its suppliers.
