Qualcomm announced on Monday that it is transferring technologies formerly created for its laptop chips to its mobile phone chips.
TakeAway Points:
- Qualcomm said on Monday it is bringing technology first developed for its laptop chips to its mobile phone chips, aiming to make them more powerful for generative AI tasks.
- The company will offer software developers special tools beyond the ones already available in Alphabet’s Android operating system to tap into those parts of the chip.
- The European Union announced Monday that it has partnered with top venture capital firms in the region to increase investment in tech innovation in Europe.
Qualcomm mobile phone chip
The San Diego-based company is the world’s biggest seller of mobile phone chips. In an effort to expand its business, the company in 2021 hired a group of ex-Apple engineers to help it design laptop chips, which went on sale this year and are helping power AI features in Microsoft’s Windows.
Now, the technology developed by that team—a set of custom computing technologies Qualcomm has branded “Oryon”—is being put into the company’s mobile phone chips for the first time.
The company also has the parts of the chip, which is called the Snapdragon 8 Elite, to handle tasks such as generating images and text. Qualcomm will offer software developers special tools beyond the ones already available in Alphabet’s Android operating system to tap into those parts of the chip.
“AI has been one of those where I think Google is moving fast, but we have our own technology to offer that end developer,” Chris Patrick, Qualcomm’s senior vice president and general manager for mobile handsets, said.
Qualcomm said Samsung Electronics, Asustek Computer, and Xiaomi, among several others, will use the new chip.
EU joins up with venture capital firms to boost region’s tech sector
The European Union said on Monday it had joined forces with leading venture capital firms from the region to boost investment in tech innovation in Europe, amid concerns that Europe’s tech sector is lagging the United States and China.
The initiative, dubbed by the EU as the “Trusted Investors Network”, comes as Europe tries to keep pace with the bigger and more innovative tech industries in China and world-leader the United States.
The EU said 71 investors from across Europe, holding in total more than 90 billion euros ($98 billion) worth of assets, had signed up to the initiative whereby they will invest in European deep-tech companies.
It added that the agreement with the venture capital firms fitted with recommendations in a report published last month by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, in which Draghi said the EU needed far bigger and quicker investments to keep pace economically with the United States and China.
“By joining forces with venture capital, we are responding to the urgent challenges laid out in the Draghi report that call for bold action to ensure Europe’s competitiveness in critical technologies,” said EU Commissioner Iliana Ivanova in a statement.
Data published in July showed that artificial intelligence deals had lifted U.S. venture capital funding to its highest level in two years.
