At CES2026, Qualcomm officially launched its new robotic technology architecture and the Dragonwing IQ10 series processor, marking its full entry into the industrial robot and humanoid robot markets. This move is seen as a crucial step for Qualcomm to enter the next generation of smart terminals, following its presence in mobile, PC, and automotive sectors, further intensifying its competition with NVIDIA in the robotics field.

Qualcomm, chips, processors, wearable devices

According to AIbase, the Dragonwing IQ10 series is a high-performance processor designed for industrial autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and full-size humanoid robots. It integrates edge computing, edge AI, mixed-critical systems, and machine learning operations (MLOps), aiming to provide high-efficiency, scalable "robot brains." Qualcomm emphasized that the platform's advantages in power efficiency and system integration stem from over 40 years of technical expertise in mobile chips, which is a key factor in competing with NVIDIA.

In terms of ecosystem development, Qualcomm is accelerating the construction of an open robotic collaboration network. Currently, it has partnered with several robot manufacturers, including Figure AI, Booster, VinMotion, and KUKA Robotics. Among them, the U.S. startup Figure AI will develop the next-generation humanoid robot based on the Dragonwing IQ10; while the Motion2 humanoid robot from Vietnam's VinMotion has already been showcased at this CES and is equipped with the previous IQ9 chip, becoming an early example of Qualcomm's robotic solutions being put into practice.

From a technical capability perspective, this architecture natively supports visual-language-action models (VLAs) and visual-language models (VLMs), enabling advanced environmental perception, motion planning, and natural human-robot interaction. Qualcomm believes that this marks the transition of robots from laboratory prototypes to scalable commercial applications.

Notably, Qualcomm's successful experience in the automotive sector is becoming a significant endorsement for its entry into the robotics market. Its Snapdragon Cockpit Elite platform has become the de facto standard for high-end electric vehicles, featuring a custom Oryon CPU architecture that outperforms NVIDIA and Intel's similar solutions in power control and connectivity. It has been adopted by almost all major automakers, including General Motors, BMW, Hyundai, and Ferrari, with a revenue pipeline in the automotive business exceeding $45 billion. Currently, Qualcomm is negotiating with KUKA Robotics for the next-generation robotic solutions, further demonstrating its ambition to build a complete stack from mobile terminals, PCs, cars, to robots.

With the launch of the Dragonwing IQ10, Qualcomm is attempting to replicate its strengths in low-power, high-performance computing into the robotics sector. In the increasingly competitive landscape of general-purpose robotic platforms, whether this strategy can challenge NVIDIA's first-mover advantage has become a focal point of industry attention.