Qualcomm Unveils 2 Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Chips as Extreme Runs 30B-Parameter AI Locally
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 22
Qualcomm Unveils 2 Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Chips as Extreme Runs 30B-Parameter AI Locally
3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 22
Summary
Qualcomm introduced two flagship mobile processors — Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 — built to push more AI features directly onto smartphones.
A new sensing hub runs small models up to 200 million parameters, enabling on-device speaker differentiation, a local personal scribe, usage-based memory and full voice-in, voice-out agents.
The Extreme chip adds a new accelerator and can run a 30-billion-parameter mixture-of-experts model locally; Qualcomm contrasted that with Apple’s 20-billion-parameter MoE model unveiled at WWDC in June.
Camera and audio upgrades are also central: the chips add pixel-level camera control, better stabilization, AI vocal enhancement, noise reduction and voice-bubble call isolation, while the Extreme supports 8K 60fps and 4K240 video plus APV recording.
Motorola said its Signature 27 phone will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 later this year, underscoring Qualcomm’s bet that AI will stay centered on smartphones even as dedicated AI devices emerge.
With Qualcomm's new chips processing AI entirely on-device, will this finally end cloud data harvesting, or just create new privacy loopholes?
As smartphones run massive 30-billion-parameter AI models locally, are tech giants simply offloading their exorbitant cloud computing costs onto your battery?