Qualcomm has acquired AI startup Modular to advance an open AI software ecosystem, using its hardware-portable platform and open source expertise to give developers greater flexibility beyond Nvidia’s CUDA.
Qualcomm has acquired AI infrastructure startup Modular in a strategic push to build an open AI software ecosystem, strengthening its AI capabilities across data centers and edge computing while challenging Nvidia’s proprietary CUDA platform.
The acquisition adds Modular’s “write once, run anywhere” software stack to Qualcomm’s portfolio, enabling AI models and applications to run across Nvidia, AMD, Arm and Apple hardware with minimal code changes. Qualcomm said the deal will help customers deploy AI from devices to the cloud using faster, more efficient and scalable systems while giving developers greater deployment flexibility.
“We believe the future belongs to developer-friendly, horizontal platforms that can run across diverse compute environments and give customers real choice in how and where they deploy AI,” said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm. “With Modular, we’re accelerating that shift, combining our scale and energy-efficient data center technologies with an open ecosystem approach to help drive the next chapter of AI.”
Founded in 2022 by Chris Lattner, creator of the open source LLVM compiler infrastructure and Apple’s Swift programming language, and Tim Davis, Modular also developed the Mojo programming language, which combines Python-like syntax with C/Rust-level performance for AI workloads.
“Modular was founded on the belief that AI needs a more open and efficient software foundation that can span diverse hardware and deployment environments,” said Chris Lattner, Co-founder of Modular. “Joining Qualcomm gives us the scale and platform reach to accelerate that mission.”
Financial terms were not disclosed. Modular was valued at $1.6 billion during its Series C funding round.
