Alphabet built a stake worth nearly $548 million in Qualcomm in the third quarter, as the chipmaker seeks to expand its data-center business. Qualcomm expects data-center chip revenue to reach $15 billion by 2029.
Alphabet built a stake worth nearly $548 million in longtime partner Qualcomm in the third quarter. Qualcomm shares rose 3% in premarket trading after falling more than 9% on Thursday following disappointing September-quarter results and a broader market selloff.
The investment comes as Qualcomm pursues its nascent data-center business, courting cloud providers with custom AI processors. The company expects data-center chip revenue to reach $15 billion by 2029. In September, it struck a deal allowing Amazon to buy up to $60 billion of its AI data-center chips and related products; Microsoft and Meta have also placed orders for its data-center processors.
Qualcomm chips have long powered major smartphones running Google's Android operating system. The companies have also collaborated on Google's Googlebook laptop line and agreed in 2024 to develop chips and software for automotive AI. Alphabet separately increased its position in SpaceX to about 555 million shares from 551.2 million.
