Qualcomm Launches AI250 & AI200 With Huge Memory Footprint For AI Data Center Workloads
Major technology firms are betting big on AI, creating huge demand for hardware, software, and services that underpin this massive, burgeoning market. That includes Qualcomm, which is rolling out new AI200 and AI250 chip-based accelerator cards. These are Qualcomm's next-generation AI inference-optimized solutions for data centers, and they bring with them support for gobs of memory.
This is key because AI has an insatiable appetite for memory (and storage), not just NPU horsepower. From Qualcomm's vantage point, the AI200 and AI250 deliver rack-scale performance and superior memory capacity at an industry-leading total cost of ownership (TCO), with optimized performance for large language models (LLMs) and large multimodal models (LMMs).
What that boils down to for the AI200 is support for up to 768GB of LPDDR per card to enable exceptional scale and flexibility for AI inference. Qualcomm's AI200 rack also integrates a hexagonal NPU and, as a whole, is is direct liquid cooled (DLC).
Meanwhile, the AI250 offers the same 768GB memory capacity per card while also introducing what Qualcomm says is an innovative memory architecture based on near-memory computing for a generational leap in efficiency and performance for AI inference workloads. According to Qualcomm, it delivers more than 10x higher effective memory bandwidth, and at a much lower power consumption.
"With Qualcomm AI200 and AI250, we’re redefining what’s possible for rack-scale AI
inference. These innovative new AI infrastructure solutions empower customers to deploy
generative AI at unprecedented TCO, while maintaining the flexibility and security modern data
centers demand," said Durga Malladi, SVP & GM, Technology Planning, Edge Solutions & Data
Center, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
"Our rich software stack and open ecosystem support
make it easier than ever for developers and enterprises to integrate, manage, and scale already
trained AI models on our optimized AI inference solutions. With seamless compatibility for leading AI frameworks and one-click model deployment, Qualcomm AI200 and AI250 are
designed for frictionless adoption and rapid innovation," Malladi added.
Qualcomm says the AI200 will be commercially available in 2026 followed by the AI250 in 2027. AI startup Humain is confirmed to be one of the first customers, with the company targeting a 200-megawatt AI infrastructure in Saudi Arabia outfitted with both AI rack solutions.
