The Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit is a hotspot for tech enthusiasts where Qualcomm and other tech companies officially introduce new technological upgrades. The summit is hosted by the American semiconductor company Qualcomm.

The latest summit was held in Maui, Hawaii, from October 21 to October 23, 2024. Qualcomm showed off trailblazing technologies, focusing on AI integration in daily life, from phones to VR gadgets.

The summit opened with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon’s bold vision of the future: A future where AI-first is not just a phrase but the core of all technological upgrades. Amon introduced the next generation of the Oryon CPU, marking a significant leap in performance and power efficiency.  

The Oryon CPU, initially dubbed ‘Phoenix’ and developed by NUVIA, marks Qualcomm’s pivotal shift following its acquisition in 2021. This move away from standard ARM designs enables Qualcomm to address both the PC and mobile markets uniquely. Oryon is designed as a full-scale CPU core that optimizes high performance and energy efficiency without the need for separate cores, using ARM’s v8.7-A ISA. 

Amon’s vision for Qualcomm expands beyond traditional computing, aiming to position Snapdragon as a hallmark of innovation in automotive and PC manufacturing. The Snapdragon X Elite platform has quickly become a leader in the PC sector. It is part of Qualcomm’s high-performance Windows-on-Arm SoC lineup.

The Snapdragon X Elite features cutting-edge technical components, including the new custom ARM v8 Oryon CPU cores, an Adreno GPU, and a Hexagon NPU, all built on TSMC’s competitive N4 process technology. These elements significantly boost AI capabilities. It has a versatile array of SKUs that cater to various power and cooling needs across devices, with its adaptability to its thermal design power (TDP).

This strategic integration of advanced performance features and AI capabilities across different platforms ensures that devices powered by these chips deliver speed and smarter, more energy-efficient user experiences.

A standout feature of the summit was the emphasis on generative AI (GenAI), which is set to redefine the interaction between users and their devices. This technology enables devices to understand human language and respond in kind.

These new technologies will transform how we interact with our devices. Soon, they won’t just follow our commands; they will actually predict our needs even before asking.

The summit was about Qualcomm’s innovations and its collaborations with tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, and OpenAI. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared insights into how Qualcomm’s edge AI is transforming computing. It moves powerful AI processing from cloud to edge, enhancing privacy, reducing latency, and improving efficiency.

Similarly, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed integrating advanced AI models on Snapdragon platforms, enhancing rich AI experiences directly on devices. 

Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon Digital Chassis. It includes two key platforms: Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite.

Snapdragon Cockpit Elite focuses on delivering premium in-vehicle experiences through advanced multitasking capabilities and immersive applications via large infotainment screens. Snapdragon Ride Elite leverages the Oryon CPU alongside a GPU and neural processing unit to manage complex AI tasks, such as interpreting data from multiple sensors to aid in automated driving features like collision avoidance. 

The automotive presentations showed how AI is becoming the standard expectation for new vehicles, providing drivers with intuitive interfaces and responsive systems that upgrade safety and enjoyment.

Overall, the Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit 2024 revealed new products with a glimpse into a future shaped by AI. Qualcomm’s vision of bringing experiences of tomorrow to users of today excited audiences and promised transformative impacts on human and AI interaction. From this summit, we can anticipate a world where AI improves our lifestyles and creates new ways to live, work, and connect.

Iftekharul Islam is a Program Associate at the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a Bangladeshi think tank.