Qualcomm will acquire chip company founded by Apple execs for $1.4 billion

Enlarge / A splash image for Nuvia from the company’s blog. (credit: Nuvia)

Chip-maker Qualcomm announced a major acquisition today: it will buy Santa Clara-based silicon company Nuvia for $1.4 billion dollars. Qualcomm intends to use Nuvia’s technology in future chip designs for a wide range of devices, from phones to cars.

Nuvia was founded in 2019 by three former Apple semiconductor executives. The startup has been developing custom CPU core design for servers, and its company materials make frequent reference to a mission to “reimagine” silicon design. But Qualcomm sees applications for Nuvia’s tech beyond servers.

Qualcomm’s press release says Nuvia will deliver “step-function improvements in CPU performance and power efficiency to meet the demands of next-generation 5G computing.” Qualcomm plans to use Nuvia’s tech in “flagship smartphones, next-generation laptops, and digital cockpits, as well as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, extended reality and infrastructure networking solutions.”