Subvolts take Qualcomm's CEO maps out AI's device future beyond smartphones. Jan 20, 2026 - Developers
- Learn about the hardware constraints and opportunities shaping the future of AI applications on devices.
- Business
- Understand how AI hardware trends, like wearables, could impact future product development and market strategies.
- Everyday users
- Discover what the next generation of AI-powered gadgets might look like beyond the current smartphone.
Features a CEO of a major chip maker discussing the hardware future of AI, offering a hardware perspective on the AI race.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon: Future Of AI Devices, AI Fashion, Blending Reality and Computing
Audio streams from Alex Kantrowitz. Your place is remembered on this device.
From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon discusses the future of AI devices on the Big Technology Podcast. He envisions personal computing moving beyond smartphones to AI-powered glasses and wearables. Amon also touches on AI PCs, agent experiences, and Qualcomm's role in AI inference and robotics, highlighting potential advantages for China in certain areas.
Qualcomm's CEO talks about how AI will change the gadgets we use, like smart glasses, instead of just phones. He explains how these new devices will help AI work better everywhere, not just on big computers.
This episode offers insight into the hardware driving the next era of AI, moving beyond software and models. It's for anyone interested in how AI will integrate into daily life through devices, from consumers to business strategists. Amon's perspective on 'the winner at the edge' connects directly to frontier labs' race to deploy AI everywhere, not just in data centers, influencing hardware development for companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple.
- HostAlex Kantrowitz
- GuestCristiano AmonCEO, Qualcomm
- Guest: Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm
- Show: Big Technology Podcast
- Length: 55 minutes
- Topic: Future of AI Devices, AI Fashion, Blending Reality and Computing
- Key Vision: Next wave of personal computing will move beyond the smartphone.
- Areas Covered: AI-powered glasses, wearables, agent experience, AI PCs, data center AI inference, robotics, industrial AI, China's AI progress.
Cristiano Amon is the CEO of Qualcomm. Amon joins Big Technology to discuss what the AI device of the future looks like—and why he thinks the next wave of personal computing will move beyond the smartphone. Tune in to hear his vision for AI-powered glasses and wearables, what a truly useful agent experience requires, and why he believes the “winner at the edge” will shape the AI race. We also cover AI PCs and what will actually drive adoption, Qualcomm’s push into AI inference in the data center, the state of robotics and industrial AI, and where China may be pulling ahead. Hit play for a Davos-front-row conversation on where AI is heading next—and the chips and constraints that will determine how fast it gets there.
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- AI inference
- Cristiano Amon
- When an AI model makes a prediction or decision using data it has been trained on.
- the edge
- Cristiano Amon
- Devices like phones or glasses that process information locally, rather than sending it to a central server.
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Questions people ask
- What does Qualcomm's CEO think is the next big thing in personal computing?
- Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon believes the next wave of personal computing will move beyond the smartphone, focusing on AI-powered glasses and wearables.
- Where might China be leading in AI?
- The episode covers where China may be pulling ahead in AI development, though specific details are not provided in the notes.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Alex Kantrowitz.