Qualcomm is acquiring Modular, a software startup founded by former Google TPU engineers, for nearly $4 billion（約6400億円）.
Modular's technology lets developers write AI software once and deploy it across different chips—a capability that challenges Nvidia and AMD's proprietary or partially open systems.
The acquisition reflects Qualcomm's ambition to expand beyond mobile chips into AI gadgets and data centers, where it expects to compete on both hardware and developer-friendly software platforms.
What happened
Qualcomm announced Wednesday it will buy Modular for nearly $4 billion（約6400億円） in stock, including $300 million（約480億円） for Modular employees. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year. Modular's entire team of around 150 employees, including cofounders Chris Lattner and Tim Davis, will join Qualcomm.
Why it matters
Modular makes software that lets developers write AI code once and run it on different chips without rewriting—a capability that directly competes with Nvidia's CUDA and AMD's ROCm. For Qualcomm, the acquisition underscores its shift away from mobile-device chips (which generate most of its revenue today) toward AI applications and the data center market, where it is also building custom chips for customers including ByteDance.
What to watch
This is Qualcomm's second major chip-sector acquisition in less than a year; it also acquired Ventana Micro Systems late last year to build server CPUs. The deal comes nine months after Modular raised $250 million（約400億円） at a $1.6 billion（約2600億円） valuation, marking a significant step up in the company's value.
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