Given the incredible explosion of interest in AI infrastructure and the chips that power them, it's no surprise that virtually every semiconductor company has been talking about how their offerings are an important part of the overall AI computing story.
In truth, however, the level of contribution and realistic opportunities that these companies have vary a great deal. One of the most recent names to enter the fray is Qualcomm, best known for powering a huge percentage of modern smartphones, but also an increasingly important force in the automotive, PC and wearable markets among others.
The company had previously announced a few accelerators that were targeted at the AI data center market but at their recent Investor Day in NYC (which they sponsored me and several other analysts to attend), the company laid out a surprisingly comprehensive view of their plans and goals for AI infrastructure...
In short, the company is planning to not only expand its line of AI accelerators, but is also working on a new CPU targeted at AI workloads, a range of connectivity solutions leveraging IP from the company's recent AlphaWave purchase, and even a custom ASIC design business that they plan to offer to hyperscalers and other large AI model providers.
