Qualcomm China Chairman Highlights Edge AI and AI Agents Trend
At the 2026 Northeast Asia (Shenyang) Talent Exchange Conference, Qualcomm China Chairman Meng Pu stated that edge AI and AI agents are accelerating the transition toward ubiquitous intelligent computing. He emphasized that future mobile platforms could potentially support massive local models on-device. This insight highlights the industry-wide shift from cloud-only computing to a hybrid cloud-edge architecture, which promises lower latency, enhanced privacy, and a transition from app-centric to agent-centric computing experiences. These developments are expected to drive the next major smartphone super cycle and expand into various edge devices. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon previously noted that AI enterprises have requested platforms supporting 100-billion parameter models locally on smartphones by 2028. Additionally, Meng Pu outlined that AI tasks are expanding across phones, PCs, cars, robots, and industrial equipment.
## BACKGROUND
Edge AI refers to deploying artificial intelligence algorithms and models directly onto terminal hardware like smartphones and wearables, executing data processing locally for low latency and high privacy. AI agents are autonomous software entities that can perceive their environment, make decisions, and execute actions to accomplish specific goals rather than just acting as reactive chatbots.