According to Qualcomm, AI requires more power than just the cloud
Qualcomm Inc. bets However, the future of artificial intelligence requires more computing power than the cloud alone can provide.
The world’s largest maker of smartphone processors is transitioning from a telecom company to an “intelligent computing” company, said Alex Katouzian, a Qualcomm executive. The feature in question is a mobile device that a user taps to access a network or service, and Katuzian used his time at the big keynote event at Computex in Taipei to prove the size of the market.
The US company’s chips help smartphones utilize artificial intelligence in everything from image processing to malware detection. In highlighting the “AI-enabling” aspects of their products, Katouzyan and his colleagues have joined the ranks of companies that are touting themselves as beneficiaries of the growing demand for AI. He said the company has shipped two billion AI-enabled products to date.
“As the number of connected devices continues to grow, data traffic continues to accelerate, and data center costs increase, it’s simply not possible to send everything to the cloud,” Katozian said. He added that people wouldn’t want to do that when it comes to personal information.
Growing demand for the chips behind artificial intelligence tools such as Open AI’s ChatGPT has pushed shares of chipmaker Nvidia Corp. to record highs. Broader enthusiasm for artificial intelligence has driven companies from semiconductor maker Arm Ltd to Asustek Computer Inc. In Taiwan, attention has focused on its AI-related services, with more than one leader heralding the dawn of a new era of computing.
Unlike Nvidia, whose revenue forecasts for the current quarter beat estimates by more than 50%, Qualcomm’s forecasts were much lower than estimates of sluggish global demand for mobile devices. Katouzian sees inventory drying up in the third or fourth quarter of this year. He said some Qualcomm customers are starting to increase orders for smaller components, a key indicator of rising demand.
