Qualcomm issues $4 billion warrant as Amazon joins AI chip partnership
Qualcomm granted Amazon a warrant to purchase roughly $4 billion of its shares, tying the investment to a joint effort on custom AI data-center chips.
Qualcomm announced that it has issued a warrant allowing Amazon to acquire an approximately $4 billion stake in the company at $161.26 per share. The equity component is connected to a broader partnership aimed at developing custom chips for AI inference workloads in data centers, a segment that is becoming increasingly competitive. In addition to processor design, the two companies will co-develop high-speed optical connectivity solutions capable of delivering up to 1.6 terabits per second to meet rising bandwidth needs.
Qualcomm also plans to increase its use of Amazon Web Services’ artificial-intelligence services and infrastructure for chip-design tasks, seeking to shorten development cycles. Shares of Qualcomm rose more than 7 percent in early trading following the announcement. The deal follows a modest recovery in Qualcomm’s stock after a year of decline driven by weaker smartphone demand.
