quote: Qualcomm CEO reveals AI companies want phones running 100-billion-parameter models continuously by 2028--and confirms some are building phones Cristiano Amon: “I have to be careful not to disclose names, but some AI companies—some of the companies at the forefront of AI—are telling Qualcomm, ‘By 2028, I need to make sure that I have the ability to run at least a 100-billion-parameter model in a phone, and I need to have this thing running kind of all the time.’” Alex Heath: “So you’re saying there are AI companies that are talking about—” Cristiano Amon: “Well, AI companies are starting to do phones.” | Qualcomm’s CEO on the coming AI phone supercycle @cristianoamon on the China vs. US AI sentiment, how AI is changing smartphones and wearables, Qualcomm’s data center strategy, and 6G. We discuss why he thinks phones aren’t going away, how agents will use our personal context, and why he expects smart glasses to become the biggest category of AI wearables. We also cover differences in consumer AI adoption between China and the US, Qualcomm’s acquisition of Modular to offer developers an alternative to Nvidia’s software, and what 6G could change about the devices we use. This conversation was recorded live at Qualcomm’s recent Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. Timestamps: 00:18 How China and the US see AI 04:33 Should AI development slow down? 07:25 Trump, China, and chip geopolitics 08:25 Why the smartphone market is shrinking 11:15 Memory prices and pent-up demand 13:15 Can cloud agents replace the phone? 18:30 What is an AI smartphone? 25:05 The state of VR and smart glasses 29:30 Is there an iPod moment for wearables? 30:45 Why Qualcomm is building data centers 34:45 Modular and the fight against CUDA lock-in 39:05 What 5G actually changed 42:00 Why 6G is built for AI 45:05 When 6G arrives Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3fTPoH… YouTube: youtu.be/FcYL3h5bwlk Substack: sources.news/p/qualcomm-ceo… Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/qua… Thanks to the show’s premiere sponsors: @Atlassian, @meetgranola, and @mercury.