# Amazon teams up with Qualcomm on custom AI chips

> Amazon and Qualcomm announce a multi-generational partnership to build customized silicon for AI infrastructure, with up to $60 billion in potential payments.
- Title: Amazon teams up with Qualcomm on custom AI chips · Cloud Wars
- Summary: Amazon and Qualcomm announce a multi-generational partnership to build customized silicon for AI infrastructure, with up to $60 billion in potential…
- Keywords: amazon, aws, qualcomm, custom silicon, ai chips, data centers, semiconductor partnership, ai infrastructure, nvidia, chip strategy, teams, custom
- Source: Cloud Wars — https://cloudwars.com/ai/amazon-expands-custom-silicon-strategy-with-major-qualcomm-collaboration
- Author: Kieron Allen
- Published: 2026-09-22T15:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: amazon, aws, qualcomm, custom silicon, ai chips, data centers, semiconductor partnership, ai infrastructure, nvidia, chip strategy
## Amazon and Qualcomm join forces
Amazon announced a major multi-generational collaboration with Qualcomm to develop customized server chips. The deal could involve up to $60 billion in payments plus a warrant for 25 million Qualcomm shares.

> This collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies builds on a strong foundation of partnership and reflects our shared commitment to pushing the boundaries of what's possible.
## Combining AI expertise with chip design
AWS will pair its AI infrastructure knowledge with Qualcomm's silicon capabilities to build customized chips for AI inference across large data centers. The partnership spans multiple generations of products.
## High-speed optical connectivity included
The companies will develop optical connectivity solutions using Qualcomm's SerDes and optical DSP technologies to move data between chips at speeds up to 1.6 terabits per second.
## Qualcomm gets AWS AI tools
Qualcomm will use AWS AI infrastructure including Amazon Bedrock for electronic design automation workloads. This aims to speed up chip design cycles and reduce development time.
## Amazon already has custom chips
AWS already produces Graviton CPUs, Trainium AI chips, and Inferentia chips. The Qualcomm deal adds another layer to this strategy without replacing existing partnerships.
## NVIDIA partnership remains strong
Amazon is not moving away from NVIDIA. In August 2026, AWS and NVIDIA expanded their partnership to deploy 2 million additional GPUs across AWS infrastructure in 2027 and 2028.

> NVIDIA GPUs remain an important part of AWS's AI infrastructure, even as Amazon continues developing its own custom chips.
## Key takeaway

Amazon is diversifying its chip strategy by partnering with Qualcomm alongside its existing custom chips and NVIDIA GPUs, giving it more control over AI infrastructure.