U.S. leading chip manufacturer Qualcomm has unveiled a suite of cutting-edge platforms to enhance generative artificial intelligence (AI) experiences for devices from personal computers (PCs), mobile devices to earbuds, at its annual tech summit in Maui in the U.S. state of Hawaii.

Generative AI is a type of AI that generates text, image, audio, video, programming codes and other content in response to prompts.

The tech summit, named Snapdragon Summit, runs from Tuesday to Thursday, during which the company launches its next-generation platforms and showcases the technologies that will power upcoming consumer devices such as flagship PCs and mobile phones. 

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon platforms showcase enhanced on-device AI performance for a wave of generative AI devices and applications, with focuses on immediacy, reliability, personalization and privacy.

The new platforms include Snapdragon X Elite, a PC platform which outpaces competing laptop central processing unit (CPUs) and sets a new bar in AI performance; and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a mobile platform which further scales on-device AI.

These platforms showcase extreme speeds in generative AI tasks, such as on-device chat assistants for Windows 11 laptops or image generation on a smartphone.

Groundbreaking platforms

The Snapdragon X Elite platform is the most powerful computing processor Qualcomm has ever created for the PC.

This groundbreaking platform ushers in a new era of premium computing by delivering a massive leap forward with best-in-class CPU performance, leading on-device AI inferencing, and one of the most efficient processors in a PC with up to multiple days of battery life, according to Qualcomm.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is the Qualcomm's first mobile platform designed with generative AI in mind, has the most powerful neural processing unit (NPU) for mobile devices and uses the power of AI to enhance content creation, camera, gaming, sound and connectivity experiences for premium smartphones, according to Qualcomm.

The company also unveiled a new platform for Snapdragon Sound which uses AI for advanced noise cancellation; and Snapdragon Seamless, which lets devices work seamlessly together across manufacturers and operating systems.

At the summit, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon showed how AI will have a profound impact on using devices, and how Snapdragon could offer on-device AI experiences across a broad range of consumer electronics categories.

"We are entering the era of AI, and on-device generative AI will play a critical role in delivering powerful, fast, personal, efficient, secure and highly optimized experiences," Amon said at the summit.

"Snapdragon is uniquely positioned to help shape and capitalize on the on-device AI opportunity and you will see generative AI going virtually everywhere that Snapdragon goes," he noted.

AI development cooperation

For more than a decade, Qualcomm has been researching and working with its partners to enhance the user experience through AI.

Some of Qualcomm's Chinese partners, including Xiaomi and Honor, joined the summit with their flagship devices, and shared visions of what consumers can expect from on-device AI technologies.

"Qualcomm will continue to strengthen in-depth cooperation with China's industrial chain and Chinese partners, to achieve a win-win situation in the global market," said Frank Meng, chairman of Qualcomm China.

(With input from Xinhua)