Qualcomm Jumps 11% After Unveiling New AI Chips to Rival Nvidia’s Dominance

Qualcomm Soars 11% as It Takes the Fight to Nvidia in the AI Chip Race

Qualcomm has unveiled its new A1200 and AI250 chips, marking a significant step forward in AI data centre performance. The A1200 delivers rack-scale computing power with enhanced memory capacity, enabling faster and more efficient generative AI processing.

The AI200, designed specifically for AI inference (which is the stage where models like ChatGPT generate outputs), integrates a 768 GB memory card that offers high capacity at lower cost and power consumption compared to traditional server memory. Meanwhile, the AI250 introduces a near-memory computing architecture, where memory is positioned closer to or within the processor itself. This design minimises data transfer time and energy use, achieving roughly ten times greater memory bandwidth efficiency.

In my view, these innovations strengthen Qualcomm’s positioning in the data centre AI market by offering a compelling balance of speed, energy efficiency, and cost performance key differentiators as the next wave of AI infrastructure competition accelerates.

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Qualcomm Surges as It Enters the Data Centre AI Race, Secures First Major Customer Backed by Saudi PIF

Following the announcement, Qualcomm’s share price surged as much as 20 percent on Monday before consolidating to an 11 percent gain by market close. The new AI chips are scheduled to begin shipping in 2027, marking Qualcomm’s formal entry into the high-performance data centre market traditionally dominated by NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD.

Historically known for its dominance in mobile chip manufacturing, Qualcomm is now positioning itself as a serious contender in large-scale AI computing. The company also announced its first customer for the AI200 chip series, Humain, an AI firm backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Humain plans to deploy approximately 200 megawatts of AI200 chips across Saudi data centres next year, primarily to support AI inference workloads. This partnership not only validates Qualcomm’s technology but also signals the company’s growing relevance in global AI infrastructure development.

What Investors Need to Know About Qualcomm

“With Qualcomm AI200 and AI250, we’re redefining what’s possible for rack-scale AI inference. 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,” said Durga Malladi

What investors should take from this announcement is that it opens an entirely new vertical for Qualcomm within the rapidly expanding AI hardware market. The company is now positioning itself to compete directly in the data centre space, where long-term demand for AI infrastructure remains strong. However, with chip shipments not expected until 2027, it is important to consider where we currently stand in the broader AI capital expenditure cycle. If global AI investment slows due to geopolitical or macroeconomic factors, near-term demand could soften. While this development strengthens Qualcomm’s long-term growth narrative, investors should remain mindful of potential shifts in global AI spending momentum.