During a recent episode on the Sources podcast, Amon said the shift could set the stage for a new battle among AI agents, with smartphones playing a critical role in deciding which assistants ultimately win.
- The AI industry is already looking beyond today’s chatbot-style smartphone experiences, according to Amon.
- While many of today’s AI agents rely heavily on cloud computing, Amon believes increasingly capable phones will handle a growing share of the work locally.
- Compared to the AI features on smartphones today, which largely resemble standalone tools, Amon envisions something more deeply integrated into the operating system and applications.
Qualcomm Corp. (QCOM) CEO Cristiano Amon says the smartphone is about to become a much more powerful AI machine, with some leading AI companies already asking the chip maker to ensure future phones can run models with as many as 100 billion parameters.
During a recent episode of the Sources podcast, Amon said the shift could set the stage for a new battle among AI agents, with smartphones playing a critical role in deciding which assistants ultimately win.
Qualcomm shares declined about 0.3% during the regular trading session on Friday, and edged lower by another 0.1% in the after-hours trade.
AI Companies Are Already Thinking About 100B-Parameter Phones, Says Amon
The AI industry is already looking beyond today’s chatbot-style smartphone experiences, according to Amon.
The Qualcomm CEO said some companies at the forefront of AI are asking Qualcomm to prepare for a future where extremely large models can run directly on smartphones.
“Some AI companies right now, some of the companies at the forefront of AI are telling Qualcomm, by 2028 I need to make sure that I have the ability to run at least a 100 billion parameter model into a phone,” Amon said.
He added that those companies want the models to be capable of running continuously on the device.
While many of today’s AI agents rely heavily on cloud computing, Amon believes increasingly capable phones will handle a growing share of the work locally. The reason, he argued, is that the phone contains information that is uniquely tied to its owner.
That includes personal context, app data and sensor information that can make AI agents more useful and potentially more private when processing happens on-device.
Amon Says There’s Going To Be A ‘Battle Of The Agents’
Amon sees the AI smartphone as something considerably different from simply putting a chatbot on a handset. Instead, he expects AI agents to interact with the apps, data and services already living on the device and take actions on a user’s behalf.
“There’s going to be a battle of the agents,” Amon said.
Compared to the AI feature on smartphones today, which largely resemble standalone tools, Amon envisions something more deeply integrated into the operating system and applications.
“You’re just going to say, you get a question, you’re going to say, ‘Yes,’ and then the agent is going to do things for you,” he said.
Amon argues that the cloud and the device won’t necessarily compete for AI workloads. He sees the two as an integrated computing system, with the phone acting as a highly personalized endpoint for AI.
“If you pull up your phone and it takes time for the agent to do certain things for you, then you’re going to do it yourself. But certain things you’re going to just get the agent to do it,” he said.
Amon Sees A New Smartphone Supercycle
Amon’s AI smartphone thesis comes as the broader smartphone market faces a difficult period, with memory costs putting additional pressure on device prices.
But he argues the weakness is not necessarily a sign that consumers have lost interest in smartphones. Instead, the market has matured into a replacement-driven business, while the premium segment continues to expand.
“The premium and the high tier as a percentage of the total market continue to expand,” Amon said. He believes AI could provide the next major reason for consumers to upgrade.
“Once you put the harness in, you put the capability, you will see how those things are going to develop. And I think that’s going to change the phone experience,” he said.
Amon believes it could make smartphones an important part of the AI compute landscape even as the company expands into data centers, PCs, cars and wearables.
“Phones are not going to go anywhere. It is the largest development platform ever created by mankind,” he said.
What Retail Investors Think Of QCOM Stock
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around Qualcomm trended in the ‘bearish’ territory at the time of writing.
QCOM stock is up 3% year-to-date and 6% over the past 12 months. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up 16% over the past 12 months, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) is up 23%.
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