Qualcomm agrees to acquire Modular, the AI software startup behind Mojo and the MAX inference platform

Qualcomm announced plans to acquire Modular, a startup building AI developer tools including the Mojo programming language and MAX inference platform. Modular says the deal will help bring its software stack to Qualcomm’s broad hardware footprint across edge devices, PCs, automotive, and data centers.

The acquisition signals Qualcomm’s push to pair its AI chips with a stronger software ecosystem, a key battleground as AI workloads spread beyond cloud GPUs. Modular’s compiler and inference technology could help Qualcomm make its hardware more attractive to developers seeking portable, high-performance AI deployment.