Next year, Qualcomm is set to bring generative AI to premium phones, thanks to their high-performance chips. This means that users of these top-tier phones can experience the power of ChatGPT and Midjourney AI technologies on the go. Until now, these impressive AI capabilities have mainly been limited to desktop computers. However, with Qualcomm’s upcoming launch, users will no longer be restricted and can take advantage of generative AI wherever they are.
Qualcomm plans to integrate generative AI into its upcoming premium chips, bringing enhanced features to mobile devices. The company will unveil these chips at its annual Qualcomm Summit in Hawaii in late October.
At the summit, attendees will experience firsthand the benefits of generative AI on phones. Qualcomm’s Ziad Asghar explains that on-device AI will provide highly customized and helpful solutions by utilizing a user’s data, such as driving patterns, restaurant searches, and photos. This personalized approach is the true promise of the technology and makes it so exciting.
There are additional benefits to having generative AI on-device. One significant advantage is that queries and personal data remain private and are not sent through a remote server. Local AI is also faster than cloud computation and is capable of operating in areas with no cell service, such as during travel on airplanes.
On-device solutions, such as Qualcomm’s approach, offer significant business and efficiency benefits. As machine learning models become increasingly complex, the cost of operating servers to handle queries rises significantly, as highlighted in Qualcomm’s recent white paper. For context, OpenAI was estimated to spend approximately $700,000 daily on ChatGPT, a cost prediction based on the older GPT-3 model. The newer GPT-4, with even greater complexity, is likely to incur higher expenses at scale. Qualcomm’s strategy eliminates the need for extensive server infrastructure, relying on the device’s existing processing power, effectively making AI operation on phones cost-free, as Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart emphasizes. Greengart witnessed Qualcomm’s on-device generative AI in action at the Mobile World Congress, finding it remarkably exciting despite being in its early demonstration stage.