Hey tech fam! 🚀 Qualcomm just shook up the AI world by unveiling two brand-new data center chips—AI200 and AI250—that are set to hit the market in 2026 and 2027. This bold move sent Qualcomm shares soaring by 20% on Monday, showing investors are pumped about its AI ambitions beyond smartphones.
The AI200 and AI250 are built for heavy-duty inference, which is just a fancy way of saying they run AI apps and models—think chatbots, image generators, and other generative AI tools—faster and smarter. They pack more memory and power to handle massive workloads without breaking a sweat.
Global spending on AI chips is booming as cloud giants and startups race to support large language models and next-gen AI services. Qualcomm’s chips play nicely with popular AI frameworks, making it easier (and cheaper) for enterprises to plug them into existing setups and cut costs on power and licensing fees.
But Qualcomm isn’t stopping at chips. The company also showed off full AI rack systems, taking a page from Nvidia and AMD, who’ve been moving up the value chain from standalone chips to complete data center solutions.
Of course, Nvidia still leads in performance, and switching chip providers can be pricey. But Qualcomm just scored a big win: Saudi Arabia’s AI startup Humain plans to roll out 200 megawatts of Qualcomm AI racks starting in 2026. That deal hints at a more fragmented, global ecosystem where no single player rules all.
Most of us know Qualcomm as the world’s top modem supplier for our smartphones. But in the past two years, it’s been quietly expanding—from PCs to now AI data centers—to diversify and stay ahead in the fast-evolving tech game. 🌐💡
Reference(s):
Qualcomm announces new AI chips in data center push, shares surge
cgtn.com
