Qualcomm Unveils Dragonwing IQ10 Series Chip for High-Performance, Energy-Efficient Industrial and Humanoid Robots
At CES 2026 Qualcomm introduced its Dragonwing IQ10 Series robotics processor, delivering high-performance, energy-efficient Brain of the Robot capabilities for industrial AMRs and humanoids. The company also launched a comprehensive hardware-software-AI stack supporting perception, planning, action with end-to-end AI models and noted ongoing Kuka Robotics collaboration for next-generation industrial deployments.
1. CEO Cristiano Amon Highlights Robotics as Qualcomm’s Next AI Frontier
Speaking at CES in Las Vegas on January 5, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon identified robotics as the “next big wave of AI,” positioning the company to capture emerging demand for intelligent machines across consumer, industrial and healthcare markets. Amon emphasized that Qualcomm does not view the current AI boom as a speculative bubble, citing double-digit year-over-year growth in AI-enabled Snapdragon platforms over the past two quarters. He also addressed the intensifying race toward fully autonomous vehicles, reaffirming Qualcomm’s commitment to expanding its Snapdragon Digital Chassis suite and collaborating with leading automakers to integrate advanced perception and compute capabilities into next-generation driver-assist and self-driving systems.
2. Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon X2 Plus to Drive AI PC Expansion
At CES 2026, Qualcomm officially launched the Snapdragon X2 Plus compute platform, built on a 3-nanometer process and featuring its new Oryon CPU cores. The X2 Plus delivers up to 30% higher sustained CPU performance and 25% longer battery life compared with its predecessor, enabling ultraportable AI PCs to run multiple generative AI workloads concurrently without throttling. Qualcomm executives forecast that the X2 Plus will power more than 20 distinct laptop models by mid-2026, opening a high-growth segment beyond smartphones and strengthening Qualcomm’s presence in enterprise and consumer computing markets.
3. Comprehensive Robotics Stack Debuts with Dragonwing IQ10 Series
Also at CES, Qualcomm Technologies introduced a turnkey robotics architecture and its new Dragonwing™ IQ10 Series processor for industrial autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and full-size humanoids. The IQ10 integrates heterogeneous AI engines, real-time safety processors and dedicated motion planners to support advanced vision-language models and high-precision manipulation. Qualcomm highlighted partnerships with leading robotics firms—such as Booster, VinMotion and Figure—and disclosed ongoing pilot programs with major manufacturers including Kuka. By offering an end-to-end hardware-software stack and developer tools, Qualcomm aims to foster a platform ecosystem that accelerates deployment of Physical AI solutions across logistics, manufacturing and service robotics.