Qualcomm Stock Jumps 11% as Company Enters AI Chip Race, Taking on Nvidia, AMD

Qualcomm Incorporated's (QCOM) stock surged dramatically, rising over 11% in trading, following a major announcement detailing the company's full-scale entry into the lucrative AI data center chip market, directly challenging the dominance of Nvidia and AMD.

The Catalyst: New AI Accelerator Chips

The significant stock rally was triggered by Qualcomm's unveiling of two new AI accelerator chips designed specifically for data centers: the AI200 and AI250.

Focus: The chips are optimized for AI inference—the process of running trained AI models to generate responses (like those used in ChatGPT or Claude)—rather than the more power-intensive training phase, which remains Nvidia’s stronghold.

Key Products & Timeline:

The AI200 is slated for commercial availability in 2026.

The AI250 is planned for 2027 and is touted to deliver over 10 times higher effective memory bandwidth with lower power consumption compared to the AI200.

Differentiation: Qualcomm is emphasizing energy efficiency and lower total cost of ownership (TCO), a crucial factor for large cloud providers (hyperscalers) that grapple with soaring energy costs. The new offerings also boast support for higher memory capacity (up to 768GB per card) than current rival offerings.

A Major Strategic Shift

Qualcomm, historically known as the leading provider of chips for mobile phones and wireless connectivity, is fundamentally repositioning itself as a key player in the enterprise AI infrastructure space. Investors viewed this diversification as unlocking significant new revenue potential in a sector projected to attract trillions of dollars in global investment.

First Major Deal Announced

Adding concrete evidence to their new strategy, Qualcomm also announced a strategic collaboration with HUMAIN, a Saudi sovereign AI initiative.

The agreement involves deploying 200 megawatts of Qualcomm AI200 and AI250 rack solutions starting in 2026, positioning the company to rapidly secure a footprint in the global AI infrastructure build-out.

The market's enthusiastic response, which saw the stock hit a new 52-week high, reflects a re-rating of Qualcomm's future prospects from a mobile-centric company to a diversified AI computing provider.