Qualcomm launches two new smartphone chips with emphasis on AI
News Source
β’Tue, 22 Sep 2026 20:00:00 +0000
π° What Happened
Qualcomm announced two new smartphone chips at its Snapdragon Summit: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. Both are built with AI in mind. The chips can run small AI models on the phone itself instead of sending data to remote servers. The top version can run a 30-billion-parameter model locally.
π The Backstory
Phone makers are racing to put AI features directly on devices, which is faster, cheaper and more private than using faraway computers. Apple released a 20-billion-parameter model in June. Qualcomm says its new sensing hubs can act as a personal note-taker, tell speakers apart and remember your habits. The chips also support 8K video and new pro-level camera controls.
π― Why It Matters
These chips let phones do AI tasks offline and keep your data on the device. That means quicker answers and fewer things sent to company servers.
Qualcomm announced two new smartphone chips at its Snapdragon Summit: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. Both are built with AI in mind. The chips can run small AI models on the phone itself instead of sending data to remote servers. The top version can run a 30-billion-parameter model locally.
Phone makers are racing to put AI features directly on devices, which is faster, cheaper and more private than using faraway computers. Apple released a 20-billion-parameter model in June. Qualcomm says its new sensing hubs can act as a personal note-taker, tell speakers apart and remember your habits. The chips also support 8K video and new pro-level camera controls.
These chips let phones do AI tasks offline and keep your data on the device. That means quicker answers and fewer things sent to company servers.