Qualcomm to acquire semiconductor firm Alphawave Semi

U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm has agreed to acquire British semiconductor company Alphawave for about $2.4 billion. According to Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, the deal will help Qualcomm grow its data center business. Qualcomm Oryon CPU and Hexagon NPU processors are well positioned to meet the growing demand for high-performance, low-power computing, which is being driven by a rapid increase in AI inferencing and the transition to custom CPUs in data centers.

“The combined teams share the goal of building advanced technology solutions and enabling next-level connected computing performance across a wide array of high-growth areas, including data center infrastructure,” Qualcomm said in an issued press release.

Alphawave Semi is a global leader in high-speed wired connectivity and compute technologies delivering IP, custom silicon, connectivity products and chiplets that drive faster, more reliable data transfer with higher performance and lower power consumption. Alphawave Semi’s products form a part of the core infrastructure enabling next generation services in a wide array of high growth applications, including data centers, AI, data networking and data storage.

Qualcomm’s acquisition of Alphawave comes a few months after the bigger chip company bought the generative AI division of Vietnamese startup VinAI. Qualcomm has sought to diversify its portfolio as it faces challenges, including a weakening smartphone market.

The deal is expected to close during the first calendar quarter of 2026.