Google secures stake in Qualcomm for 740 billion KRW

a close up of a computer circuit board — Mathew Schwartz / Unsplash

Google has acquired a stake in Qualcomm valued at approximately 548 million USD (around 740 billion KRW). This acquisition follows Qualcomm's purchase of the AI semiconductor software company Modular, marking a significant shift as Qualcomm expands its business from smartphones to AI data centers.

On November 6, it was reported that Alphabet, Google's parent company, secured about 3 million shares of Qualcomm in the third quarter. The stake, valued at around 548 million USD as of September 30, was obtained as Qualcomm issued its shares in exchange for the acquisition cost of Modular. Google's venture capital organization, Google Ventures, is an existing investor in Modular.

Modular specializes in software that efficiently executes AI models across various semiconductors. Through this acquisition, Qualcomm has gained software technologies to drive generative AI and AI agents in data centers and edge environments.

The two companies have collaborated for a long time, supplying chips for Android smartphones. Recently, they jointly developed Google's premium laptop line, Googlebook, which features Qualcomm processors. In 2024, they also agreed to develop semiconductors and software for the automotive industry's AI integration.

This stake acquisition comes as Qualcomm is broadening its business into the AI data center market. Qualcomm aims to increase its semiconductor revenue for data centers to over 15 billion USD (around 20 trillion KRW) by 2029. In September, Qualcomm signed a contract with Amazon for the development and supply of AI semiconductors with a potential value of up to 60 billion USD (around 82 trillion KRW).