Qualcomm and IBM have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the development of AI-powered solutions at the network edge.
Revealed ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025, this collaboration aims to enhance AI processing before data reaches the end user. This edge computing approach is crucial for applications requiring ultra-fast responses, such as autonomous vehicles, augmented reality, industrial IoT, and robotics.
The partnership focuses on three key initiatives:
- IBM WatsonX Governance & Granite AI Models on Qualcomm Devices
IBM’s WatsonX.governance and Granite models will be integrated into Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dragonwing—Qualcomm’s platforms for enterprise AI applications. - Optimizing IBM Granite 3.1 for Edge Processing
The Granite 3.1 AI models will be fine-tuned to run directly on Qualcomm’s platform, available via the Qualcomm AI Hub. This allows developers to build intelligent applications with lower latency and improved data privacy, reducing reliance on cloud-based processing. - Openchip Certification for Qualcomm Cloud AI Accelerators
Qualcomm is introducing Openchip certification for its Cloud Inference AI Accelerators, enabling seamless deployment of IBM’s AI software suite, including WatsonX, within Qualcomm Cloud AI via Openchip containers.
“This enables the implementation of IBM’s software suite, including WatsonX, in Qualcomm Cloud AI using the popular Openchip containers,” said Ignacio Contreras, Qualcomm’s VP of Product Marketing.
According to Qualcomm, this partnership represents a major step forward in distributed computing, helping businesses integrate AI more efficiently into their existing systems while reducing dependence on cloud-based processing.
