Qualcomm is aggressively expanding its data center AI presence.

Qualcomm is aggressively expanding its data center AI presence. On June 25-26, 2026, the company announced the acquisition of Modular Inc, a provider of an open AI-native software stack, aiming to strengthen its software foundation for generative and agentic AI across data center and edge environments Source 2. This acquisition underscores Qualcomm's commitment to a horizontal, multi-vendor architecture. Concurrently, Qualcomm unveiled its new 'Dragonfly' branding for data center chips, signaling a strategic shift from mobile dominance to cloud AI Source 1. The company projected $15 billion in data center chip sales by 2029, a bold target that sent shares soaring Source 27. Additionally, Qualcomm announced a multi-generation strategic partnership with Meta on data center CPUs and expanded its collaboration with Hugging Face for developer-driven AI from edge to cloud Sources 38, 40. These moves have attracted positive analyst attention, with some seeing 36% upside Source 92. The acquisition is expected to close in H2 2026. Combined with the $15B forecast and partnerships, Qualcomm is positioning itself as a serious contender in AI inference and data center silicon, directly challenging Nvidia and AMD. The spillover effects include potential fab demand for TSM, software ecosystem shifts for ARM, and heightened competition for NVDA and INTC. The direction is clearly up given the strategic acquisitions, revenue guidance, and market reception.