Qualcomm grabs chip talent, and sources say that Google, Microsoft and Intel have also considered acquiring Nuvia

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen OC_Formula for the clue delivery! CTOnews.com, January 1 (Xinhua)-- in March 2022, Qualcomm announced that its subsidiary had completed the acquisition of Nuvia, a world-class CPU design company, for $1.4 billion (about RMB 10.108 billion). The first product is expected to be launched in 2024.

According to a new report from The Information, Google, Microsoft and Intel also considered buying Nuvia, and Qualcomm finally won the chip talent.

Nuvia was founded by former Google and Apple employees, including the "chief architect" who was recently in charge of Apple M1. Nuvia's original goal was to "build the world's leading server processor," and Nuvia eventually became a target for Google, Microsoft, Intel and Qualcomm, all of which are considering buying the company, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In addition, the report said Apple was uneasy about the poaching of chip employees by Nuvia and sued its executives in August 2019. Reuters reported that Apple denied the complaint. People familiar with the company said the lawsuit inadvertently elevated Nuvia's status, sending a signal to venture capitalists and potential employees that it was a reliable semiconductor start-up.

CTOnews.com previously reported that Nuvia made its debut as a Qualcomm Oryon CPU along with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 as early as November 2022. The CPU will be available first on PC and then on "smartphones, digital cockpits, advanced driving assistance systems, extended reality and infrastructure network solutions". It is said that this "new custom CPU core" will "release new performance levels" in 2023 and provide more details.

It is worth mentioning that according to Qualcomm's counterclaim against Arm, external GPU, NPU or ISP will no longer be allowed in SOC based on Arm public domain CPU after 2024. If Qualcomm fails to solve this problem, their Snapdragon and Nuvia chips may be deeply affected.

Related readings:

"former Apple Google engineers set up chip company Nuvia to challenge giants such as Intel."

"Challenge Apple and Arm, Qualcomm acquires chip company Nuvia for $1.4 billion to compete in the field of mobile phone and automotive chips."

"Qualcomm's first 12-core SoC based on Nuvia is exposed, and its performance is worth looking forward to."

Qualcomm expects its Nuvia chip to enter the PC field in 2024, and Snapdragon + Windows will have an inflection point.