Qualcomm Nears Acquisition of AI Chip Startup Modular

Qualcomm is reportedly in the final stages of negotiations to acquire Modular, an artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure software company.

On June 22 (local time), Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Qualcomm is discussing the acquisition of Modular, valuing the company at approximately 4 billion dollars.

Modular was founded in 2022. The company has developed a platform that enables AI models to run on a variety of hardware, such as central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), all with a single codebase. Last September, Modular was valued at 1.6 billion dollars and raised 250 million dollars. The company’s total funding to date amounts to 380 million dollars.

According to Bloomberg, as competition intensifies among semiconductor companies seeking to secure cutting-edge AI technologies and talent, Qualcomm is also working to strengthen its product lineup and expand related partnerships in an effort to lay the groundwork to compete with market leader Nvidia.

In particular, as the AI inference chip market evolves rapidly, the valuation of startups like Modular is becoming increasingly complex. In fact, the valuation of some startups is even rising.

Bloomberg explained that as Nvidia signs a 20 billion dollar licensing deal to acquire Groq's assets and SambaNova Systems, backed by Intel Capital, launches a new funding round, the strategic value of these startups is being reassessed among established players in the AI ecosystem with ample capital.

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