The two companies will engage in multi-generation collaboration in the field of customized AI inference chips, while jointly developing optical interconnect solutions with speeds extending to 1.6T and higher specifications, to meet AWS's continuously expanding AI infrastructure demands.
In addition, Qualcomm plans to issue warrants to Amazon for up to 25 million shares, further deepening the alignment of interests between the two parties.
$Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$and$Amazon (AMZN.US)$The announcement of a multi-generation custom chip partnership, targeting next-generation large-scale AI data center infrastructure, marks a significant strategic layout by Qualcomm in the data center AI chip market.
Pursuant to the agreement,$Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$warrants will be issued to Amazon,$Amazon (AMZN.US)$granting it the right to purchase up to 25 million shares of Qualcomm common stock at an exercise price of $161.26 per share. The vesting of these warrants is directly linked to Amazon's actual procurement of Qualcomm server chip products, subject to a cap of $60 billion. This arrangement deeply aligns the commercial interests of both companies and provides investors with a quantitative benchmark for assessing the potential scale of the collaboration. Announced on September 8, 2026, this partnership is expected to prompt a reassessment by the market of Qualcomm's strategic positioning in the AI data center market.
The collaboration encompasses multiple dimensions, including custom AI inference chips, optical interconnect solutions supporting speeds of up to 1.6T, and the expansion of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) workloads on the AWS platform. This marks Qualcomm's accelerated extension from the mobile sector into the AI infrastructure domain.
Warrant Structure: Vesting tied to procurement, capped at $60 billion
The core of this warrant arrangement lies in its direct linkage mechanism to commercial execution. The warrants vest in tranches, with triggering conditions including the signing of specific commercial agreements, the issuance of binding purchase orders, and$Amazon (AMZN.US)$actual payments for Qualcomm's server chip products, technologies, systems, and manufacturing services, with an overall procurement cap of $60 billion.
Notably, based on Amazon's initial procurement commitment, 3.75 million shares vested immediately upon the issuance of the warrants, indicating that both parties had already secured a certain volume of initial orders at the time of signing the agreement.
The warrants do not confer any voting rights or other shareholder rights upon the holders; they serve solely as a commercial incentive instrument.
Collaboration Scope: Dual drivers of custom silicon and optical interconnects
In terms of technical collaboration, both parties will jointly develop customized chips for large-scale AI data centers, with a primary focus on AI inference scenarios. As AI workloads grow exponentially, demand for computing power, storage, network bandwidth, and energy-efficient infrastructure continues to rise. This partnership aims to combine Amazon’s strengths in secure, cost-effective AI infrastructure with Qualcomm’s technological expertise in low-power processing, chip design, and system integration.
Regarding connectivity, the two parties will collaborate to develop high-performance optical interconnect solutions based on Qualcomm’s SerDes and optical DSP technologies, supporting the expansion of AI infrastructure scale and growing bandwidth demands. Current targets extend to 1.6T, covering future generational products.
In addition,$Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$The plan involves deepening the application of AWS AI infrastructure, including the Amazon Bedrock platform, within its own chip design processes, with the goal of shortening chip design cycles. This arrangement positions Amazon as both a partner and a technology tool provider for Qualcomm.
Both parties emphasize balancing performance, efficiency, and cost.
$Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$Cristiano Amon, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "As AI demand accelerates, data center infrastructure needs to achieve breakthroughs in both computing and connectivity dimensions to deliver stronger performance more efficiently. Qualcomm is pleased to collaborate with AWS on custom chips and connectivity solutions, bringing decades of leadership in advanced processing and low-power computing to next-generation AI infrastructure."
Prasad Kalyanaraman, Vice President of AWS, stated:
"This collaboration with Qualcomm builds on a strong foundation of partnership and reflects our shared commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible. By collaborating on custom chips and advanced connectivity technologies, we will provide customers with infrastructure that offers superior performance, higher efficiency, and greater cost competitiveness."