Qualcomm and Amazon have announced a multi-generational collaboration to develop custom AI chips for large-scale data centers, with an initial focus on inference workloads. Qualcomm also issued Amazon a stock warrant tied to up to $60 billion in potential revenue, and the two companies will co-develop high-speed optical connectivity components, including a next-generation 1.6T solution. QCOM stock jumped as much as 9.5% on the news, returning to positive territory for 2026.

Qualcomm (QCOM) shares shot up as much as 9.5% on Tuesday after the company announced the chip collaboration with Amazon. The stock opened up roughly 5.6% shortly after the market open before extending gains. Heading into the announcement, QCOM had been lagging the broader chip sector.

Qualcomm and Amazon Partner on Custom AI Data Center Chips

The deal centers on building custom AI silicon for Amazon's large-scale data centers. The chips will focus on inference — the process by which AI models generate outputs based on training data. As AI applications move from buildout to widespread deployment, inference workloads are expected to account for a growing share of data center compute demand, which is why cloud providers have increasingly turned to purpose-built silicon rather than general-purpose GPUs to control cost and power consumption. Amazon already designs its own custom accelerators through AWS, and other hyperscalers including Google and Microsoft have pursued similar in-house silicon strategies, making custom-chip partnerships an established pattern in the industry.

Qualcomm will work directly with Amazon Web Services to design energy-efficient chips built for massive AI infrastructure, with AWS bringing the scale and Qualcomm contributing decades of low-power chip design expertise. For Qualcomm, the deal deepens its push to diversify beyond its smartphone-centric base business.

Qualcomm $QCOM and Amazon have announced a multi-generational collaboration to develop customized silicon for AWS AI infrastructure, with an initial focus on large-scale AI inference. The companies will also work on… pic.twitter.com/gMY7jOFZHE

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine), September 8, 2026

Beyond compute, the two companies are co-developing high-speed optical connectivity solutions, including a next-generation 1.6T solution capable of moving data at 1.6 terabits per second. Qualcomm's advanced SerDes and optical DSP technologies sit at the center of that connectivity effort, aimed at handling the growing data demands inside modern AI data centers.

The Warrant Deal

As part of the agreement, Qualcomm issued Amazon a stock warrant giving it the option to purchase up to 25 million QCOM shares at $161.26 each. The warrant expires in September 2036.

According to Qualcomm's 8-K filing, the warrant is tied to up to $60 billion in potential revenue, signaling a long-term financial commitment between the two companies rather than a short-term supply agreement. Such performance-linked warrants — where share purchase rights vest as commercial milestones are met — align the supplier's upside with actual delivery, and have been used in other large technology supply deals in recent years. The $60 billion revenue ceiling attached to the warrant gives investors a concrete, if not guaranteed, scale for the partnership's potential over the next decade.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said the deal reflects where AI infrastructure is heading: "As AI demand accelerates, data center infrastructure will require advances in both computing and connectivity to deliver greater performance with more efficiency."

AWS Vice President Prasad Kalyanaraman added that the collaboration "builds on a strong foundation of partnership and reflects our shared commitment to pushing the boundaries of what's possible."

Qualcomm's 2026 Performance

Despite Tuesday's jump, Qualcomm had been a laggard in 2026. The PHLX Semiconductor Index is up 68% year to date, while QCOM had been sitting in negative territory before Tuesday's news. The stock is now back in positive territory for the year, though it still has ground to make up against semiconductor peers.

As part of the expanded deal, Qualcomm will also increase its own use of AWS infrastructure, including Amazon Bedrock, to accelerate its chip design workflows and cut development cycles.

Amazon stock slipped fractionally on the day, down less than 1%. QCOM was trading up approximately 3.86% in afternoon trading on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Going forward, investors will be watching for details on when the custom chips enter production, how much of the $60 billion revenue potential converts into actual sales, and whether Qualcomm lands additional data center customers beyond Amazon.