❌

Normal view

Qualcomm Acquiring Modular

26 June 2026 at 18:21

Chris Lattner:

I’m excited to share that Qualcomm is acquiring Modular: this will accelerate our path to unifying accelerated compute with an open platform. This will also mark a new era in open software development for Qualcomm.

[…]

This will accelerate our progress and path, and their vision is expansive: [spanning] edge to cloud, CPU, GPU, NPU, and custom ASICs and perhaps more.

Modular (Hacker News):

As AI scales, efficiency, not capability, becomes a constraint. Performance-per-watt drives the cost of inference, and cost determines what scales. Meeting this demand requires more than hardware. Developers need software that connects system-level optimization with heterogeneous, disaggregated compute, turning silicon performance into reliable and efficient AI services across accelerators, environments, and use cases.

Previously:

Micron strikes top-tier vehicle supply chain deals

17 July 2026 at 09:27

Micron Technology secured strategic supply agreements with major automotive partners including Qualcomm and Harman to guarantee long-term chip access for software-defined vehicles.

The deals come during an aggressive industry-wide race to expand manufacturing capacity to meet a massive surge in memory chip demand driven by rapid AI adoption.

As the only US-based manufacturer of high-bandwidth memory chips used in Nvidia’s AI processors, Micron occupies a unique market position alongside South Korean rivals Samsung and SK Hynix, allowing it to command premium prices while solidifying long-term commitments during ongoing hardware shortages.

Micron also struck deals with Visteon, Joynext, Denso, Astemo, and Hyundai Mobis. It stated the agreements would improve visibility and help optimise production planning. It expects greater stability in pricing and supply chains for increasingly sophisticated AI-enabled vehicle platforms.

Demand for high-performance DRAM and NAND flash memory has grown as the automotive sector transitions toward highly connected, autonomous and intelligent designs.

Modern vehicle architectures require robust computing hardware to support advanced driver assistance systems, infotainment services and high-speed connectivity.

Sanjay Mehrotra, chair, president and CEO of Micron, emphasised the next phase of automotive innovation hinges on the strength of the ecosystem behind it. He noted “memory and storage serve are critical enablers” for the sophisticated digital experiences consumers expect.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon highlighted the collaborative effort required to deliver advanced digital cockpit and driver assistance technologies. He stated working with Micron provides a strong hardware foundation as vehicles become more intelligent and connected.

The automotive sector is a key area for increasing Qualcomm’s revenue beyond mobile chips. In its April Q2 earnings, it reported Automotive sales rose 38 per cent to $1.3 billion.

The post Micron strikes top-tier vehicle supply chain deals appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Qualcomm inks $4B deal for software specialist Modular

24 June 2026 at 16:09

Qualcomm struck a deal to acquire AI software company Modular for about $3.9 billion, in all stock-deal aimed at strengthening its software foundation for generative and agentic AI across data centre and edge environments.

The deal will pair Qualcomm’s silicon expertise with Modular’s AI-native software platform, which is designed to run AI models efficiently across CPUs, GPUs, NPUs and custom ASICs without requiring separate rewrites for each type of accelerator.

The chipmaker stated developers and enterprises will only need to build once ahead of deploying across multiple environments at a lower total cost of ownership.

Qualcomm framed the acquisition as a response to a shift in what is constraining AI deployment at scale. As AI use grows, the company argued, efficiency rather than raw capability becomes the limiting factor, since performance-per-watt drives inference costs and those costs determine what can scale.

Closing this gap, according to Qualcomm, requires software that connects system-level optimisation with heterogeneous, disaggregated compute, turning silicon performance into AI services which work reliably across different accelerators and use cases.

The deal is intended to expand Qualcomm’s data centre ambitions, supporting more efficient inference, orchestration and deployment in distributed AI systems while deepening relationships with model creators, developers, hyperscalers, and enterprise customers.

It is also expected to help the company achieve strong day-zero performance on new Qualcomm AI hardware as it rolls out.

Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon called the acquisition a pivotal moment for the AI industry. He stated agentic AI’s growth across data centres and edge environments is pushing the sector toward disaggregated, multi-vendor architectures which need a more open, modern software foundation.

He said Qualcomm believes the future belongs to developer-friendly platforms which can run across diverse compute environments, giving customers real choice in how and where they deploy AI.

“With Modular, we’re accelerating that shift, combining our scale and energy-efficient data center technologies with an open ecosystem approach to help drive the next chapter of AI,” Amon stated.

Modular co-founder and CEO Chris Lattner stated the company was built on the belief AI needs a more open and efficient software foundation spanning diverse hardware and deployment environments.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Qualcomm plans to issue 19.2 million shares to Modular equity holders.

The post Qualcomm inks $4B deal for software specialist Modular appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Qualcomm wants to be the chip inside whatever replaces your smartphone, and it just announced two products toward that end

16 June 2026 at 19:22
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said Tuesday that the company is working on over 40 different AI wearable devices — including jewelry, earbuds with cameras, pins, and watches — a sign of how aggressively the chipmaker is betting that the next major computing platform won't be a phone.
❌