Semiconductor company Qualcomm joined the race for AI data centres on Monday, challenging stalwart Nvidia as it announced new artificial intelligence accelerator chips.
The San Diego, California company said its AI200 and AI250 chips will be commercially available in 2026 and 2027, respectively. The company said the chips are designed to improve memory capacity and running AI applications.
Qualcomm jumped nearly 22 per cent before settling at $187.68 a share when US trading closed at 12am GST.
In a separate statement, Qualcomm said Saudi tech start-up Humain will use 200 megawatts of its rack solutions beginning in 2026. The announcement, made before the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh, builds on a preliminary agreement signed by the two parties in May.
“By establishing advanced AI data centres powered by Qualcomm's industry-leading inference solutions, we are helping the kingdom create a technology ecosystem that will accelerate its AI ambitions of becoming a hub of intelligent computing,” said Qualcomm chief executive and president Cristiano Amon.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been positioning themselves in recent years to become leaders in the artificial intelligence sector. One analysis from PwC estimates AI could have an economic impact of $320 billion for the Middle East.
The UAE is expected to have the largest impact, about 14 per cent of 2030 gross domestic product (GDP), while the largest gains are expected to be received in Saudi Arabia's 2030 economy, the report said.
Qualcomm, which has previously focused on semiconductors for use in wireless connectivity and mobile devices, joins a global trend of investing in AI chips.
One analysis from BlackRock estimates that investment in data centres and AI chips could top $700 billion each year by the end of the decade, equal to 2 per cent of US GDP.
An estimate from McKinsey projects data centre investments to reach nearly $7 trillion by 2030, with most going to AI chips.
