Qualcomm puts on-device AI at the heart of its next-gen platforms

Qualcomm has revamped its platforms around the idea of providing best-in-class on-device AI functionality. Both new platforms, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for mobile devices and the Snapdragon X Elite for Windows PCs will enable cutting-edge generative AI features. Qualcomm's vision is to deliver enhanced on-device AI everywhere, including on platforms like Auto, IoT and extended reality (XR).

A glimpse of new generative AI features made possible by Qualcomm

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 boasts the most powerful NPU yet for mobile devices, capable of running over 10 billion parameters on smartphones. The Snapdragon X Elite raises the bar on AI performance for PCs with its capability to run 13 billion+ parameters, an impressive 4.5x improvement in AI performance compared to competitors.

With support for running various AI models such as Stable Diffusion and Meta's Llama 2, on-device AI on Qualcomm's latest platforms will enable users to accomplish tasks such as generating images in less than a second on smartphones and experience blazing fast on-device AI assistants at 30 tokens per second on PCs.

Qualcomm has provided a glimpse of the possibilities that these new AI features will create at the Snapdragon Summit 2023 in Hawaii. Stable Diffusion, for example, can take text input from users and use artificial intelligence to general vibrant images relevant to the input. Voice-activated photo and video editing with generative AI also becomes possible.

On-device AI on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered phones can run LLM models at 20 tokens per second, meaning that chat assistants can respond more quickly and accurately. When integrated with plugins like Skyscanner, they'll be able to help users achieve tasks such as searching for flights with just voice commands. On-device personalization gets a boost with the improved Qualcomm Sensing Hub which relies on AI to better understand users' preferences.

Many of Qualcomm's partners that will utilize its next-generation platforms in their mobile devices and PCs will enable these experiences on their devices. Given the year that AI has been having, its democratization was inevitable. Qualcomm has made a huge leap in making that possible. All that's left now is to see how manufacturers enable us to make the most of these capabilities.

Disclaimer: Qualcomm is hosting a large group of international media for the Snapdragon Summit 2023 from October 24-26 in Hawaii, including SamMobile. All opinions and analyses remain our own with Qualcomm receiving no advance preview or exercising any control over our coverage.