Qualcomm recruits the chief architect of Xeon to enhance its competition with AMD and Intel in the AI data center CPU market.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon pathway expands into data centers.
Qualcomm, known for its Snapdragon processors that power smartphones and laptops around the world, has made a strategic hire by bringing on Sailesh Kottapalli, a former chief architect of Xeon processors and Intel veteran with 28 years of experience. Kottapalli will join Qualcomm as a senior vice president in January 2025, bringing with him extensive knowledge in high-performance x86 server chip design.
While Qualcomm has primarily focused on Arm-based designs, Kottapalli's expertise in x86 architecture could be crucial in bridging the company's existing technology with the rigorous requirements of data center processors. In a LinkedIn message, Kottapalli expressed that the opportunity to innovate and contribute in new areas was too attractive to pass up.
In the past, Qualcomm had scaled back its development of server CPUs in 2018, but it has recently announced plans to create high-performance, energy-efficient server solutions, especially for data center applications. This path began with the Snapdragon X series for PCs, which incorporates Arm-based cores derived from the acquisition of Nuvia in 2021, a transaction that faced legal challenges in 2024 when Arm alleged violations of its licensing terms. Although a federal jury ruled in favor of Qualcomm, Arm is seeking a new trial.
As Qualcomm resumes its foray into the data center sector, it has expanded its offering of artificial intelligence accelerator chips under the Qualcomm Cloud AI brand, backed by industry leaders like AWS, HPE, and Lenovo.
