Shares in Qualcomm (QCOM) are the number one trending ticker on Yahoo Finance this Tuesday morning after the US chipmaker unveiled its first data-centre processors designed for artificial intelligence, in a bid to capture part of a multibillion-dollar market currently dominated by Nvidia (NVDA).
The San Diego-based company announced two new AI accelerator chips and a rack-level system that can be plugged directly into data centres, marking its most ambitious move yet into high-performance computing infrastructure.
The first chip in the new line, the AI200, is set to launch next year and will feature 768 GB of LPDDR memory per card, according to Qualcomm (QCOM). A second model, the AI250, is expected to follow in 2027, introducing what the company described as a breakthrough in memory performance.
“It improves the memory bandwidth by a factor of more than 10,” said Durga Malladi, Qualcomm’s senior vice-president.
Saudi Arabia’s Humain, an AI company backed by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, will be Qualcomm’s first customer, building on a partnership initially announced in May.
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The move comes as Qualcomm (QCOM) seeks to diversify its portfolio and capitalise on the booming demand for AI infrastructure. So far, Nvidia (NVDA) has been the chief beneficiary of the AI hardware surge.
Analysts estimate the company controls more than 75% of the market for specialised processors used to train and run large language models, the technology behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s (GOOGL) (GOOG) Gemini.
Tesla (TSLA) shares were in the red in pre-market trading after chair Robyn Denholm warned in a letter to shareholders that Elon Musk could leave the company as chief executive if his proposed $1tn pay package was not approved.
The performance-based compensation plan was designed to retain and motivate Musk to continue leading Tesla (TSLA) for at least another seven and a half years, Denholm said in the letter.
The appeal comes ahead of the company’s annual meeting on 6 November, with Tesla’s (TSLA) board facing repeated criticism for failing to act in shareholders’ best interests. Governance experts and advocacy groups have also questioned the board’s independence and its oversight of Musk’s influence.
Musk’s leadership was “critical” to Tesla’s (TSLA) success, Denholm said, warning that without a plan that properly incentivises him, the company risked losing his “time, talent and vision”. She added that Musk’s role was vital as Tesla seeks to establish itself as a global leader in artificial intelligence and autonomous technology.
Under the proposed package, Musk would receive 12 tranches of stock options tied to ambitious targets, including a market capitalisation of $8.5trn and milestones in autonomous driving and robotics.
Shares in Amazon (AMZN) were flat ahead of the US opening bell despite reports that the tech giant is preparing to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs from this week.
The Seattle-based technology giant is reportedly seeking to reverse its hiring spree from during the peak of the pandemic.
CEO Andy Jassy had warned workers that a number of jobs in the business could be replaced by AI.
Amazon (AMZN) is expected to target divisions globally including human resources, operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), according to reports from Reuters and the Wall Street Journal.
AWS is the world’s largest cloud computing provider and offers a wide variety of services, including storage, databases, machine learning, and security tools.
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Disruption to AWS led to outages across a wide range of internet services around the world last week, including HMRC and several banks in the UK.
Sources told the publications that the plans are part of efforts to cut costs and undo the firm’s major recruitment drive during the height of the pandemic when shoppers shifted their habits online.
The expected cuts will impact almost a 10th of the company’s roughly 350,000 corporate workforce.
Amazon (AMZN) employs more than 1.5 million staff in total, with the majority in warehouse roles around the world. The company employs around 75,000 people in the UK.
Shares in Co-Diagnostics (CODX) fell 20% in pre-market trading, entering correction territory, after soaring 259% on Monday following news that the molecular diagnostics company had agreed to form a joint venture in Saudi Arabia.
The new entity, named CoMira Diagnostics, will partner Co-Diagnostics (CODX) with Arabian Eagle Manufacturing to develop, manufacture and commercialise Co-Dx technologies across Saudi Arabia and 18 other countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Under the agreement, Co-Diagnostics (CODX) will grant CoMira an exclusive licence to use, manufacture and commercialise its intellectual property, including its upcoming Co-Dx PCR point-of-care platform and existing lab-based PCR diagnostic products. Arabian Eagle will provide local operational support, oversee the establishment of manufacturing facilities and manage regulatory approvals across the region.
“We are pleased to announce this agreement to establish the relationship with Arabian Eagle, our valued partners in the Middle East, as we expand the reach of our exciting healthcare innovations into a region with a large and growing market for medical devices and point-of-care diagnostics,” said Co-Diagnostics (CODX) CEO Dwight Egan.
Shares in Qorvo (QRVO) have jumped around 9% in pre-market trading after reports that Apple (AAPL) supplier Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) is in talks to acquire the rival chipmaker.
Skyworks Solutions, a major supplier of radio frequency chips for Apple and other smartphone manufacturers, has recently held discussions to acquire Qorvo (QRVO), according to The Information.
Qorvo (QRVO), which has a market value of about $8.5bn, closed at $92.13 on Monday. Skyworks (SWKS) is valued at roughly $11.3bn and employs more than 10,000 people.
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Skyworks (SWKS) designs and manufactures analog and mixed-signal chips used in wireless communication, automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics. The firm had in August forecast fourth-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street expectations, benefiting from steady demand for its analog chips.
However, Qorvo (QRVO) has come under pressure from activist investor Starboard Value, which recently added two new independent directors to the board in an effort to boost the company’s underperforming share price.
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