Qualcomm announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Modular, an AI software infrastructure company. The acquisition is intended to strengthen Qualcomm Technologies’ software foundation for generative AI and agentic AI across data center and edge environments. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and applicable regulatory approvals.
Modular provides an open, AI-native software stack that enables AI to run efficiently across hardware architectures.
The company’s unified platform allows models to run across CPU, GPU, NPU, and custom ASIC architectures without requiring rewrites for each accelerator.
Qualcomm said the deal combines Modular’s AI-native software platform and engineering team with Qualcomm Technologies’ silicon leadership.
The acquisition is expected to accelerate the adoption of Qualcomm’s edge-to-cloud AI platforms among developers, OEMs, ODMs, cloud service providers, and model creators.
Qualcomm said Modular’s software will help the company deliver a silicon-agnostic compute layer across devices, edge environments, and data centers.
The company said this approach can improve performance per watt, increase hardware flexibility, and expand an open developer ecosystem for AI deployment across heterogeneous platforms.
Qualcomm also said the acquisition will deepen its data center strategy by supporting more efficient inference, orchestration, and deployment in distributed AI systems.
The company noted that AI infrastructure increasingly requires software that connects system-level optimization with heterogeneous and disaggregated compute environments.
By combining Qualcomm Technologies’ hardware expertise with Modular’s software capabilities, Qualcomm said it will be better positioned to help customers move AI into production from device to cloud with systems that are faster, more efficient, and easier to scale.
Modular was founded to build a more open and efficient software foundation for AI development and deployment.
The company’s platform is designed to help developers write once and run across diverse hardware and environments, reducing integration overhead and dependence on any single hardware vendor.
KEY QUOTES:
“This acquisition marks a pivotal moment not just for Qualcomm, but for the AI industry. As agentic AI scales across data centers and edge environments, the industry is moving toward disaggregated, multi-vendor architectures that demand a more open and modern software foundation. We believe the future belongs to developer-friendly, horizontal platforms that can run across diverse compute environments and give customers real choice in how and where they deploy AI. With Modular, we’re accelerating that shift, combining our scale and energy-efficient data center technologies with an open ecosystem approach to help drive the next chapter of AI.”
Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm
“Modular was founded on the belief that AI needs a more open and efficient software foundation that can span diverse hardware and deployment environments. Joining Qualcomm gives us the scale and platform reach to accelerate that mission. Together, we can make AI development more accessible and performant for developers, strengthen portability across hardware, and help grow an open ecosystem that broadens participation and speeds innovation. We are excited to continue advancing our software platform as part of Qualcomm’s broader strategy from edge to cloud.”
Chris Lattner, Co-Founder and CEO of Modular
