Qualcomm stock rises on report of OpenAI smartphone chip partnership
Qualcomm is one of the largest semiconductor companies producing chipsets.
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Qualcomm Shares rose in premarket trading Monday following reports that the AI firm is partnering with OpenAI to create smartphone processing chips to advance its hardware ambitions.
US smartphone chipmaker is preparing to work with Taiwanese semiconductor company MediaTek Will develop chip for OpenAI together with Chinese manufacturer Luxshare TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who co-designed and manufactured the device, said: He said on Monday on X. According to Kuo, mass production of the device is expected to occur in 2028.
Qualcomm was up 12% in the latest premarket trading. The stock is down 13% so far this year.
Qualcomm shares year-to-date.
Qualcomm, OpenAI and MediaTek did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment confirming the partnership.
“OpenAI can only provide a comprehensive AI agent service by fully controlling both the operating system and hardware,” Kuo said in his post. “The smartphone is the only device that captures the full real-time state of the user, which is the most important input for real-time AI agent inference.”
He explained that smartphones will remain the “largest-scale device category” for the foreseeable future, and that it makes sense for OpenAI to develop a device powered entirely by AI, as it has been accumulating user data over the years.
“Smartphone hardware is already quite mature, so OpenAI can work with the supply chain to improve the device,” Kuo said. “In terms of business model, OpenAI can combine subscriptions with hardware and create a new ecosystem of AI tools with developers.”
OpenAI smartphone targets
Qualcomm designs chips and wireless technology for smartphones and other devices and is known for the Snapdragon processors that power many Android phones and modem technology that enables mobile connections such as 4G and 5G.
It’s probably no surprise that OpenAI partnered with the firm after its acquisition to help realize its smartphone plans. AppleDesign chief Jony Ive’s io startup, which raised $6.4 billion in equity last year to design new AI devices expected to be released within two years.
Altman said last year that the devices OpenAI designed with io will be different from smartphones. “It will be able to know everything you’ve ever thought, read, said,” he said, comparing it to walking in Times Square.
“Then you can go for a vibe that’s not like walking through Times Square and having all these things competing for your attention,” Altman said. “But it’s like sitting in the most beautiful cabin by the lake and in the mountains and enjoying the peace and tranquility.”
It was also reported in September that Luxshare had signed a deal with OpenAI to produce consumer devices.
