At the Microsoft Build 2024 conference, Qualcomm announced a significant expansion of its “Qualcomm AI Hub” to support the latest Snapdragon X Series platforms (Elite/Plus), aimed at expediting time-to-market for developers and enhancing the deployment of on-device generative AI in next-generation Windows PCs aka Copilot Plus PCs.
The Qualcomm AI Hub, a comprehensive resource centre for developers, now facilitates the seamless integration of custom AI models, allowing developers to bring their own models and optimise them for direct execution on Snapdragon-powered devices. On-device AI has significant advantages including increased responsiveness, enhanced privacy, improved reliability, and more personalised user experiences. Microsoft in fact is pushing for on-device AI a great deal inside the Copilot Plus PCs with the introduction of a bunch of features like Recall and Cocreator.
Qualcomm claims its AI Hub has a robust library of over 100 pre-optimised AI models, accessible via popular platforms like Hugging Face and GitHub. A new “Bring Your Own Model” (BYOM) feature will now allow developers to upload, optimise, and compile their AI models specifically for Snapdragon and Qualcomm platforms, supporting major frameworks including PyTorch, TensorFlow, and ONNX.
One of the standout features of the updated Qualcomm AI Hub is the ability for developers to test and validate their models on cloud-hosted devices with ease. This process can be completed in under five minutes with just a few lines of code, significantly streamlining the optimisation and verification steps. This efficiency can give developers some extra leg room to focus more on innovation and iteration, thereby accelerating their development and deployment cycles.
“With support for Snapdragon X Series Platforms in the Qualcomm AI Hub, we are providing developers with the flexibility and power to create innovative AI applications for next generation Windows PCs,” Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager of technology planning and edge solutions, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc said in a prepared statement. “We are committed to providing developers with the tools and resources they need to unleash the full potential of on-device generative AI.”
The first wave of Microsoft’s Copilot Plus PCs will start shipping from June with prices starting at USD 999. Partner OEMs include Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung. Microsoft itself has launched a new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series ARM-based processors. Intel meanwhile has announced that its own batch of Lunar Lake-powered (x86) Copilot Plus PCs will hit the shelves starting from Q3, 2024.
