Qualcomm spikes after report that it’s selling “millions” of AI chips to TikTok owner ByteDance

Qualcomm shares surged Monday after Bloomberg reported the chipmaker is selling "millions" of custom AI processors to TikTok owner ByteDance for use in the social media company's AI agent software. The deal signals Qualcomm's expansion beyond mobile devices into data center hardware, a shift CEO Cristiano Amon highlighted in the company's recent earnings report.

Qualcomm spikes after report that it’s selling “millions” of AI chips to TikTok owner ByteDance Qualcomm https://robinhood.com/us/en/stocks/QCOM/?source=sherwood is spiking after a Bloomberg report https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-26/qualcomm-strikes-ai-chip-deal-with-tiktok-owner-bytedance that the chip company is poised to sell “millions” of AI chips to TikTok owner ByteDance. The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said these custom processors would be used to “support the social media company’s AI agent software.” Qualcomm had come under pressure https://sherwood.news/markets/the-chip-rally-is-getting-so-intense-even-qualcomm-gets-to-surge/ earlier this year because of softness in its China handset business in light of difficulty accessing memory chips, which are in a severe supply crunch. At one time, the company had seemingly been counting on supporting AI-enabled devices to earn its role in the boom — and still might be doing that, with analysts speculating over a potential partnership with OpenAI for an AI smartphone chip https://sherwood.news/markets/openai-is-reportedly-building-custom-ai-smartphones-qualcomm-surges-processor-partnership/ . But it’s also been telegraphing a shift toward playing a bigger role upstream in providing hardware for data centers. In the press release https://sherwood.news/markets/qualcomm-q2-earnings-guidance-memory-crunch-ai-boom-chips/ that accompanied Qualcomm’s recent earnings report, President and CEO Cristiano Amon touted the company’s entry into the data center business, with initial shipments to a “leading hyperscaler” on track for later this year, and said that investors could expect to hear more on Qualcomm’s growth plans in data center and physical AI at its Investor Day on June 24. Seems like they’re on track.