Qualcomm CEO: "We're Building Secret Devices With Almost Every AI Company." OpenAI's First Hardware May Run on Qualcomm Silicon.
Qualcomm CEO Amon said the company is building secret AI wearables with OpenAI, Meta, and others. The OpenAI chip report drove a 13% stock pop. Amon sees agent-device mass adoption in 2027–2028.
- Qualcomm CEO Amon said the company is co-developing wearables with virtually every major AI company, including OpenAI and Meta
- A report on a custom OpenAI smartphone chip drove QCOM up 13%, though a follow-up note raised the possibility of MediaTek going solo
- Amon sees AI agent wearables hitting mass adoption in 2027–2028, with control "shifting from the OS and app store to which agent you choose."
Race for the post-smartphone era · ByteDance's AI agent phone proof point · 2027–2028 mass adoption
Qualcomm (QCOM) CEO Cristiano Amon was unusually direct in a Fortune interview.
There are secret form factors I can't talk about. But I can tell you we're working with almost every AI company.
Cristiano Amon, CEO, Qualcomm
OpenAI, Meta (META), and several unnamed AI companies. These devices are not handheld. They're wearable — glasses, jewelry, pins, pendants.
"The app-store era is ending" — control shifts
Amon's thesis: the smartphone-centric world is ending. He calls the next layer "the ecosystem of you." Camera-equipped glasses see what you see. Earbuds hear what you hear. An agent stitches it all together and acts on your behalf. See a restaurant receipt — the agent pays. See a product — the agent finds the lowest price. A meeting gets scheduled — the agent calls the clinic to coordinate.
The control point is shifting. It's no longer about the OS or the app store. It's about which agent you choose.
Cristiano Amon
What Apple and Google built around the OS platform now moves up to the agent layer. Qualcomm is positioning to ship silicon under whoever wins.
OpenAI's first hardware chip — context for the 13% pop
After the interview, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Qualcomm and MediaTek were jointly designing a custom chip for an OpenAI smartphone.
- Luxshare to manufacture
- Mass production targeted for 2028
- Annual shipments 300–400M units — iPhone-class scale
Qualcomm shares jumped 13% on the report.
Caveat: Amon's interview did not mention a smartphone form factor. And Kuo's May 5 update note revised the picture — the chip may move to MediaTek alone, with mass production pulled forward to early 2027. Qualcomm could exit this specific device. But Amon's frame is bigger: "Qualcomm supplies the silicon underneath AI's push into consumer hardware."
ByteDance already proved it — the phone Tencent called "irresponsible"
Amon directly cited a precedent. Last December, ByteDance shipped the AI agent Doubao Mobile Assistant inside the ZTE-built Nubia M153 handset. The agent operates the software directly, navigates apps, books tickets, completes payments. The first batch of around 30,000 units sold out.
Tencent CEO Pony Ma called it "extremely dangerous and irresponsible," and Meituan, WeChat, and Alibaba blocked Doubao's access. ByteDance is preparing a Gen 2 device for Q2 2026.
Amon flagged this case: "no one paid attention, but we mentioned it on our last earnings call." A signal that the OS/app-store control regime is already cracking.
Can glasses replace the smartphone?
Amon points to glasses as the leading form factor. The argument: closest to the eyes, ears, and mouth — the best location for AI to capture context in real time. He does not expect a single winner: "Just as not everyone wears the same clothes, not everyone wears the same glasses." For Qualcomm, that is opportunity, not risk. Whoever wins, Qualcomm chips ride along.
This is the year of the agent and devices ship into the market. By 2027–2028 it will be unavoidable.
Cristiano Amon
What this says
Qualcomm was the core silicon supplier to the Android ecosystem in the smartphone era. The strategy is to take the same position in the AI agent device era. As OpenAI, Meta, ByteDance, and several unnamed AI companies push into hardware, Qualcomm ships silicon under whichever camp wins.
It's the classic "picks and shovels" trade for semis. Whoever wins the AI hardware war, Qualcomm wins. The MediaTek-may-take-OpenAI-alone variable adds noise to one specific device, but the pipeline Amon's comments imply is far broader than any single customer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to QCOM if it loses the OpenAI chip slot?
Some short-term selling pressure is possible. But the pipeline Amon's comments imply is far broader than any single OpenAI contract. Undisclosed work is underway with Meta, ByteDance, and several other AI companies, so losing one specific deal does not unwind the broader AI-hardware strategy.
Can glasses really replace the smartphone?
Technically possible — but social acceptance is the swing variable. Google Glass failed in 2013 because of privacy pushback, not technology. Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses have lowered that barrier, but mass adoption still needs time. Amon naming 2027–2028 reflects that.
Why does the ByteDance Doubao phone matter?
It's the first commercial product where an AI agent operates apps directly, bypassing the OS as the control layer. Tencent and Alibaba blocking Doubao's access is itself evidence that this architecture poses a real threat to existing platform power.
How is Qualcomm different from Nvidia in AI?
Nvidia focuses on data-center AI training and inference. Qualcomm's edge is on-device AI — running AI inside the device itself (edge AI). When wearables run AI locally rather than through the cloud, Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips become the core infrastructure.
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