What kind of chips is Qualcomm designing for AWS?

Qualcomm is designing custom chips for AWS with a focus on AI inference, working with Amazon across multiple product generations.

What do the companies plan to do about growing data traffic?

The two companies are working on optical interconnects with bandwidth up to 1.6 terabits to handle growing data traffic in AI infrastructure.

How does Qualcomm's work with AWS relate to its other recent deals?

Amazon is Qualcomm's third big data center win since June. Meta is taking the Dragonfly C1000 server processor, and Microsoft is deploying Qualcomm's HBC memory architecture in Azure.

Large Language ModelsAI Business & IndustryTHE DECODERSep 9, 2026Sep 9, 2026, 22:00 JST

Qualcomm to design custom AI chips for AWS

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3 Key Points

What happened
Qualcomm is designing custom chips for AWS with a focus on AI inference, and the companies are also working on optical interconnects with bandwidth up to 1.6 terabits.
Why it matters
This makes Amazon Qualcomm's third big data center win since June, following Meta's adoption of the Dragonfly C1000 and Microsoft's use of the HBC memory architecture; Qualcomm aims to hit $15 billion in data center revenue by 2029.
What to watch
AWS is adding Qualcomm's designs alongside its own Trainium, Graviton, and Nitro chip families, targeting inference workloads where energy cost per token drives the bottom line.

WHO IT HITSCloud infrastructure and procurement teams at AWS and its competitors, as well as enterprise IT decision-makers evaluating AI inference hardware options, will be affected as Qualcomm's custom chip designs become a new option in the data center market.

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Context & Analysis

The announcement marks a significant expansion of Qualcomm's data center ambitions, positioning the company as a key supplier to the largest cloud providers. AWS will add Qualcomm's designs to its existing chip families, Trainium, Graviton, and Nitro, signaling a strategic move to diversify its AI inference hardware options.

For Qualcomm, this builds on a string of recent data center wins, including Meta and Microsoft, as it seeks to grow this revenue stream to $15 billion by 2029.

The collaboration is mutually beneficial—AWS gains another chip supplier with a track record in power-efficient design, while Qualcomm leverages AWS's cloud services, including Amazon Bedrock, to accelerate its own chip design process. The success of this partnership likely hinges on the efficiency of Qualcomm's chips in handling inference workloads, as energy cost per token is a key driver for data center economics.

FAQ

What kind of chips is Qualcomm designing for AWS?: Qualcomm is designing custom chips for AWS with a focus on AI inference, working with Amazon across multiple product generations.
What do the companies plan to do about growing data traffic?: The two companies are working on optical interconnects with bandwidth up to 1.6 terabits to handle growing data traffic in AI infrastructure.
How does Qualcomm's work with AWS relate to its other recent deals?: Amazon is Qualcomm's third big data center win since June. Meta is taking the Dragonfly C1000 server processor, and Microsoft is deploying Qualcomm's HBC memory architecture in Azure.

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Also reported by DIGITIMES Asia

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