Qualcomm gives Amazon a stake option to anchor AI chip partnership

Qualcomm and Amazon will work across several product generations on custom chips and high-speed connections for AWS data centers, initially focused on AI inference—the work of running trained models for users. The unusual part is the incentive: Qualcomm issued Amazon warrants, essentially options to buy up to 25 million Qualcomm shares at a preset price, representing a stake worth roughly $4 billion if fully exercised. The rights vest in stages as the commercial relationship develops, including potential Amazon purchases of as much as $60 billion in Qualcomm chips and related products; that is a ceiling, not a committed order, and the warrants expire in 2036. For Qualcomm, best known for smartphone processors, the deal brings a major customer to its push into data centers and gives Amazon a financial reason to help make that push succeed.