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Qualcomm at Mwc: AI everywhere, from the wrist to 6G and Industry 4.0

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the San Diego-based company presents its vision: artificial intelligence built into every device and next-generation connectivity. From smartwatches that think to the networks that will arrive in 2029

by Marco Trabucchi

3 March 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

BARCELONA- If there is one company that can afford to look beyond the horizon at the Mobile World Congress, it is Qualcomm, the American chip giant, which has decided to show what awaits us in the coming years. A world where artificial intelligence lives not only in the cloud, but also in devices. "The future of generative AI is hybrid," explains CEO Cristiano Amon. "On-device intelligence works together with the cloud to offer greater personalisation, privacy, reliability and efficiency." Connectivity, in this scheme, is the invisible infrastructure that holds it all together.

Wearing AI

The first innovation presented in Barcelona is called Snapdragon Wear Elite, designed for next-generation smartwatches and wearables. It is not the usual incremental update, but a platform designed to bring 'personal' artificial intelligence directly to the wrist. In practice, this means having an assistant that truly understands the context, responds in a natural voice and can perform actions on behalf of the user. All processed locally on the device, without having to query the cloud each time. A faster, more private and more efficient process.

The platform for wearables with personal AI is built at 3 nanometres, integrates a dedicated Hexagon NPU for AI, and promises a marked jump in performance: CPU up to five times faster, GPU up to seven times more powerful than the previous generation, with a battery life improvement in the order of 30 per cent. It supports Wear OS, Android and Linux and integrates a comprehensive connectivity package: 5G RedCap, ultra-low power Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 6.0, Ultra Wideband, GNSS and even NB-NTN for satellite connections. Google, Samsung and Motorola are among the announced partners, with the first devices expected in the coming months.

Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7 and AI-driven modem

On the wireless front, Qualcomm presented FastConnect 7900, the first Wi-Fi 7 system optimised by AI and capable of integrating Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Ultra Wideband in a single 6-nanometer chip. Artificial intelligence intervenes to dynamically adapt power consumption, latency and throughput according to the usage scenario. This is not marketing: it means more efficient traffic management, better stability in congested situations and more precise proximity functions, such as digital car keys, indoor localisation and secure device control.

For the cellular world, the reference platform is the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System, a 5G Advanced compatible modem and the first with fully integrated support for NB-NTN satellite communications. It integrates a dedicated tensor accelerator that uses AI to optimise coverage, latency, energy efficiency and mmWave beamforming management. The logic is the same: the network is not only faster, it is 'smarter'.

The 6G on the horizon

In Barcelona, 6G was a manifesto and Qualcomm is one of the undisputed protagonists thanks to a new collaboration with major industry players - Amazon, Cisco, Siemens and many others - to bring 6G to the market from 2029. It won't just be 'faster 5G': the idea is to create a native system based on artificial intelligence, where connectivity, wide area sensing and high performance computing work together. "6G is more than just a step forward in wireless evolution," explained Cristiano Amon. The first building block is the Qualcomm X105 platform, the first modem that lays the foundation for the development of 6G, improving data speeds and energy efficiency (downloads up to 14.8 Gbps, uploads up to 4.2 Gbps, and power consumption reduced by up to 30 per cent compared to the previous generation).

AI Hub: ready-to-use models

Alongside the hardware, Qualcomm has also expanded its AI Hub with over 75 pre-optimised artificial intelligence models, ready to be integrated into apps. The idea is simple: make life easier for developers, reducing development time and allowing them to take advantage of the benefits of on-device AI (speed, privacy, customisation, cloud cost savings).

Available models include well-known names such as Whisper (speech recognition), ControlNet, Stable Diffusion (image generation) and Baichuan 7B (natural language). All are optimised to run on the Qualcomm AI Engine by exploiting the NPU, CPU and GPU together, resulting in results four times faster than standard execution.

Industry 4.0 Demo

Qualcomm also brought concrete demonstrations of what AI on-device means to Barcelona. Of particular note was the one that showed the future of industrial automation. Together with Siemens, Qualcomm showed a model of an autonomous factory at MWC that demonstrates how AI and private 5G can revolutionise industrial production.

The scenario is this: autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) transport materials through the factory, communicating via Siemens' private industrial 5G network (powered by Qualcomm technology). A robotic arm coordinates assembly operations by communicating in real time with the AGVs and production cells. And an AI agent, running locally on Siemens industrial hardware equipped with a Qualcomm Cloud AI 100 Accelerator Card, analyses the system status in real time to detect problems and suggest corrective actions.

Artificial intelligence is not only for real-time quality inspections, but also for safer and more intelligent operator support, diagnostics and workflows. All without depending on centralised production management systems (MES), with decisions made locally and autonomously.

"By combining Qualcomm's leadership in AI, edge computing and connectivity with Siemens' expertise in factory automation, we are showcasing a new class of autonomous, intelligent manufacturing powered by the edge," explains Nakul Duggal, executive vice president of Qualcomm Technologies.