EXCLUSIVE: Qualcomm's AI Chief On $1-Trillion Market Opportunity, 'Knight Rider' KITT-Like Cars And Microsoft Collaboration

As one of the many companies offering artificial intelligence tools and platforms, Qualcomm Inc QCOM could have growing revenue ahead. Here’s a look at what Qualcomm is doing in the AI space and how it's capitalizing on the potential $1-trillion market opportunity.

What Happened: Semiconductor stocks have seen valuations increase in 2023 with demand for artificial intelligence use cases rising.

Qualcomm Senior Vice President and Head of AI Ziad Asghar told Benzinga that Qualcomm is well-positioned to capitalize on the potential $1-trillion market opportunity.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for Qualcomm in terms of what we can do,” Asghar said. “This is a great opportunity for the whole industry.”

Asghar said that Qualcomm's scale is far greater than anybody else's in the field.

One attribute that sets Qualcomm apart is its focus on completing AI models and utilizing AI tools directly on the device, instead of sending users to the cloud or to other places where their data and privacy may not be as secure.

“We do these models entirely on the device.”

While most users right now are experimenting with text-to-image, where they input words for an image to be drawn up, Asghar said models are coming for text-to-video, image-to-text and image-to-video.

“I think we’re looking at the tip of the iceberg.”

The AI market has seen a 10x increase in use cases, 10x increase in the size of models and 10x increase in the number of users, Asghar added.

Asghar called the $1-trillion market opportunity a “transformational moment” and said that Qualcomm can bring AI to the masses across its product lines.

Related Link: Exclusive: Qualcomm Seizes 'Amazing Opportunity' With Artificial Intelligence, Harnessing A 'Transformational Moment' 

Utilizing AI In Autos: Qualcomm has seen its automotive segment post impressive growth in recent years as it grows its connected car and digital cockpit capabilities. The company has partnered with some of the largest automotive companies.

“AI is already being used heavily,” Asghar said of the automotive segment.

Asghar said Qualcomm leads the way in driver assistance programs and has cameras for cars that are uniquely different than smartphone cameras. 

In the future, users will be able to more closely talk to their car like in scenes from “Knight Rider,” Asghar added.

Users could ask their car for restaurant recommendations or to stop to get a cup of coffee. Asghar said that consumers should also be able to share ideas they have or items they need to book by telling them to their car and the items would automatically be updated on their calendar.

Working with Microsoft: Qualcomm works with a number of large companies across its product lines. One such partner is Microsoft Corporation MSFT, a company that has invested heavily in ChatGPT parent OpenAI. 

“Qualcomm and Microsoft work together very closely,” Asghar said.

Asghar said Qualcomm has an AI accelerator built into its PC product line already, with Snapdragon powering Windows 11 PCs with generative AI-on-device technology.

Use cases include language translators, transcribing technology and summary outputs of meetings on computers, Asghar added.

Asghar said Qualcomm has the right technology and can launch items quickly for its customers.

“Qualcomm can do things on device that others can’t.”

QCOM Price Action: Qualcomm shares are up 11.1% year-to-date and closed at $119.11 on Friday.

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Catch the full Qualcomm interview below: 

Photo: Qualcomm and Shutterstock