33 Most Important AI Companies You Should Pay Attention To

20. QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 78 

YTD Return as of August 1: 46%

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) develops and sells foundational technologies for the wireless industry. The company is famous for providing consumer electronics firm Apple with the chips needed to power their devices, like smartphones, laptops, and PCs. However, Apple has started to develop their own chips, threatening the core business of the chipmaker. However, AI-fueled tailwinds have served to offset some of these concerns as hyperscalers engage in a race to develop AI data centers, powered by chips. Concerns around export controls to China are also offset by the increased government spending on chip manufacturing inside the United States.

Cristiano Amon, the CEO of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), remarked during the third quarter earnings call that continued expansion of AI features was a precursor to next-generation smartphones which will become AI-centric with pervasive on-device AI working across applications in the cloud. The CEO added that Qualcomm was very well-positioned to help drive this transformation across the industry in the coming years.