Qualcomm ramps up challenge to Intel and AMD with latest AI PC chip

Qualcomm launched a new PC processor on Wednesday as it looks to capitalize on electronics makers' desire to put artificial intelligence on their devices.

The move ramps up Qualcomm's efforts to challenge the dominance of Intel in the PC processor market at a time when the latter is facing mounting challenges.

Qualcomm took the wraps off the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core at the IFA conference in Berlin, Germany. The processor, designed for PCs running Microsoft's Windows operating system, promises to power AI processes with a long battery life.

The latest chips expand Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Series for PCs, which it launched last year.

The U.S. chip giant said the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core is designed for PCs costing as low as $700 as it looks to expand its semiconductors to more devices.

Qualcomm has traditionally designed chips that are used in the smartphones of many of the world's biggest players, including Samsung. But the company stepped up its PC efforts this year when Microsoft announced a Surface Laptop and a Surface Pro tablet with Qualcomm's X Series chips that can run some AI tasks without an internet connection. Microsoft calls these Copilot+ PCs.

In an interview with CNBC, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said that the company's push into PC chips forms part of a broader "diversification" story for the company away from just mobile chipsets. The company has also been building out its growing automotive business, with AI a key part of its strategy.

"We are on a journey to diversify and make sure our technology is now expanding into other markets," Amon said in a TV interview Wednesday.

He added that the PC market is "fundamentally" changing due to two things: mobile-PC convergence — in other words, people are coming to expect