Story perspectives

Qualcomm to Acquire Modular for $3.9 B, Boost AI Platform

6/24/2026

Summary

Qualcomm Acquires Modular

Qualcomm announced on June 24, 2026 it will acquire AI software startup Modular Inc.
The $3.92 billion deal will be paid with up to 19.2 million Qualcomm shares.
Modular’s platform runs AI models on CPUs, GPUs, NPUs and accelerators without code changes.
Modular’s 150-person team, co-founder Chris Lattner, will join Qualcomm.
CEO Cristiano Amon said Qualcomm expects the deal to close in H2 2026, pending approval, and it will give a developer-friendly AI platform.

Summary

Qualcomm Gains AI

Qualcomm's shares fell 5.16% in pre-market trading on June 23, 2026 after reports of its Modular acquisition.
The stock rose 1.1% in pre-market on June 24, 2026 and has gained 57% over the past three months.
Analysts say the deal adds software depth to Qualcomm's data-center chips, positioning it against Nvidia and AMD.
Modular’s investors—General Catalyst, GV, Greylock Partners and DFJ Growth—show strong venture backing for AI-inference platforms, reflecting semiconductor consolidation.

History

Historical Context

In 2015 Intel paid $16.7 billion for Altera, forming its Programmable Solutions Group and expanding beyond CPUs into FPGA-based AI acceleration. The precedent guided Qualcomm, which on June 24 2026 agreed to buy Modular for $3.92 billion to embed AI inference across its CPUs, GPUs and NPUs. Both moves reflect the industry’s drive to add programmable logic for data-center and AI workloads.

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Qualcomm Acquires Modular

Qualcomm announced on June 24, 2026 it will acquire AI software startup Modular Inc.
The $3.92 billion deal will be paid with up to 19.2 million Qualcomm shares.
Modular’s platform runs AI models on CPUs, GPUs, NPUs and accelerators without code changes.
Modular’s 150-person team, co-founder Chris Lattner, will join Qualcomm.
CEO Cristiano Amon said Qualcomm expects the deal to close in H2 2026, pending approval, and it will give a developer-friendly AI platform.

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