Qualcomm poaches Xeon chief architect to compete better with AMD and Intel in AI data center CPU market

LovabledanielsJanuary 15, 2025115 Views

Qualcomm currently sells AI accelerator processors but has the CPU market in its sights
Sailesh Kottapalli’s expertise is in x86 architecture, not Arm
But that didn’t stop Qualcomm from bringing him onboard to lead its data center team

Qualcomm, renowned for its Snapdragon processors powering business smartphones and laptops around the world, has made a potentially key hire as it looks to challenge the likes of AMD and Intel in the processor market.

The company’s latest coup is hiring Sailesh Kottapalli, a former chief architect for Xeon processors and a 28-year Intel veteran.

Kottapalli joined Qualcomm as senior vice president in early January 2025, bringing extensive expertise in designing high-performance x86 server chips.

Kottapalli’s move to Arm

Kottapalli wrote on LinkedIn that “the opportunity to innovate and grow while helping to scale new frontiers was immensely compelling to me—a once-in-a-career opportunity that I could not pass on.”

What makes the move significant, given Qualcomm’s reliance on Arm-based designs, is Kottapalli’s expertise in x86 architecture. His leadership could help bridge the gap between Qualcomm’s existing technology and the demanding requirements of data center CPUs.

A renewed push for the data center

Qualcomm had retreated from server CPU development back in 2018, but the company has now revealed plans to develop high-performance, energy-efficient server solutions tailored for data center applications.

This journey began with its Snapdragon X series for PCs, featuring custom Arm-based cores derived from its $1.4 billion acquisition of the startup Nuvia back in 2021, that built to a legal crescendo in a Delaware court in December 2024 when Arm alleged that Qualcomm’s acquisition breached its licencing terms. Though a federal jury sided with Qualcomm, Arm is seeking a retrial.

For now, though, Qualcomm has been expanding its presence in the data center sector, with AI accelerator chips under the Qualcomm Cloud AI brand supported by industry leaders like AWS, HPE, and Lenovo.