Amazon and Qualcomm cooperate on AI processors

San Diego. Amazon is developing special processors for AI data centers together with Qualcomm. The cooperation has a volume of up to 60 billion dollars, Qualcomm announced on Tuesday. At the same time, the online retailer will have the option to invest in the semiconductor manufacturer for around four billion dollars.

Qualcomm shares then rose by almost nine percent on Wall Street.

Amazon and Qualcomm want to work together to design processors for the daily operation of already trained AI models. These chips are rapidly becoming more important due to the increasing spread of artificial intelligence. In addition, the two companies are researching new technologies for rapid data exchange.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world's largest cloud provider. By developing its own processors, the online retailer's subsidiary wants to reduce its dependence on chip companies such as Nvidia and AMD. Other technology companies such as Alphabet subsidiary Google or Facebook parent Meta are pursuing similar projects.

Linking collaborations with a possible entry is not an isolated case: In recent months, AMD has offered its own shares to both Meta and the ChatGPT developer OpenAI as part of supply contracts worth billions.