Qualcomm has unveiled two new flagship mobile processors — the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. The company is primarily betting on on-device artificial intelligence: the new chips can run more complex models directly on the smartphone, analyze what is happening around the user, and personalize how AI agents work without constantly sending data to the cloud.

The presentation took place at the annual Snapdragon Summit. Qualcomm expects the smartphone to gradually become not just a device for running individual AI features, but a full-fledged personal assistant that understands the context of how the device is being used and can independently perform various tasks.

The smartphone will be able to remember how its owner uses it

The new chips feature an updated sensor hub capable of running small models locally with up to 200 million parameters. It is designed for continuous analysis of data coming from microphones and other smartphone sensors, and such tasks do not require contacting a server.

One of the capabilities is a personal voice recorder that can distinguish between different participants in a conversation. In addition, the device can build a local “memory” based on the owner’s actions and use it to suggest more suitable automation options.

Qualcomm also says that the new chip can provide full-fledged operation of a voice AI agent in a “voice in, voice out” setup. In other words, interaction with the assistant can happen through natural conversation, while a significant part of the related processing is performed directly on the smartphone.

This is an important direction in the development of mobile AI. Instead of sending every request to the cloud, the smartphone gains the ability to process some information about the owner, their habits, and the current context on its own.

Extreme will be able to run a 30-billion-parameter model

The regular Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 received a new dedicated accelerator designed to execute AI tasks more efficiently.

But the capabilities of the higher-end version — the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 — are far more interesting. Qualcomm says this chip is capable of running a 30-billion-parameter model on the smartphone itself, built on a mixture-of-experts, or MoE, architecture.

These models are structured in a special way: although the total size of the model reaches 30 billion parameters, only part of them is activated for a specific request. Because of this, the computational resource requirements are lower than when running all parameters at once in full.

For comparison, Apple in June introduced its own MoE-architecture model with 20 billion parameters as the most advanced model in the third generation of Apple Foundation Models. Qualcomm is now claiming the ability to run an even larger model in total size on a mobile device.

At the same time, this refers specifically to the platform’s potential capabilities, not to the idea that every smartphone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 will automatically work with a 30-billion-parameter model. Specific applications and models must be adapted for the corresponding hardware acceleration.

Cameras got more computing capabilities

The new Snapdragon chips also received improvements for image processing. Qualcomm added the ability to control the camera more precisely at the level of individual pixels, which should allow developers to create more professional shooting modes.

The company also promises improved stabilization and more accurate motion recognition. The higher-end processor version is capable of supporting 8K video recording at 60 frames per second and 4K at 240 frames per second — the latter mode will be useful for ultra-slow-motion capture.

Another new feature is the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, aimed at professional video recording. In this way, Qualcomm is trying to expand smartphone capabilities not only in computing, but also in working with raw video footage.

AI is also used in ordinary conversations. Both processors received voice-processing features that should improve speech quality and suppress background noise. In addition, Qualcomm introduced Voice Bubble technology, designed to isolate the user’s voice during calls.

The smartphone remains the main device for AI

The new processors are arriving against the backdrop of Qualcomm’s broader bet that the smartphone will become the main personal device for interacting with artificial intelligence.

The company is already working on more than 40 AI-related devices and form factors, but the industry continues to debate whether a separate class of mass-market devices will emerge that can replace the smartphone as the main personal computer.

For now, Qualcomm is proceeding from a different scenario: separate AI devices may appear, but the main computing platform is already in the user’s pocket. That is why the development of local models, sensor systems, and AI agents is gradually turning the smartphone from a tool for launching apps into a device capable of understanding context and performing tasks independently.

The first announced smartphone based on the higher-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 was the Motorola Signature 27. Motorola said the device will go on general sale later this year.

Thus, Qualcomm is taking the next step in the already noticeable shift from cloud AI to processing directly on the device. The more powerful mobile processors become, the more functions that previously required a server connection can be moved directly onto the smartphone — from speech recognition and video processing to running fairly large language models.