HardwareProcessorsCould Arm’s legal battle with Qualcomm over technology licences stop Copilot+ PCs from really taking off?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
HardwareProcessorsCould Arm’s legal battle with Qualcomm over technology licences stop Copilot+ PCs from really taking off?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Qualcomm)
Back in August 2022, chip design firm Arm filed a lawsuit in the US against Qualcomm, demanding that it destroy specific Arm-based technologies. With no progress made in the case, Qualcomm went on to use said technologies in itsSnapdragon Xprocessors, the only chips currently rated for use in Microsoft’s newCopilot+ AI PCs. Given how much the PC industry is hoping AI will revive a somewhat flagged market, will this ongoing legal battle ultimately stop the AI PC from ever becoming successful?
That company had licenced processor architectures from Arm and once it became part of Qualcomm, the work development of the work carried on. Ultimately, Nuvia’s designs were used in various high-end processors, including the Snapdragon X range.
However, in August 2022, Armfiled a lawsuitin the US District Court of Delaware, claiming that Qualcomm had no right to do so, because the moment Nuvia officially became part of Qualcomm, the former’s Arm licences expired.
Since that time, no progress has been made in the legal battle, and because it remains hanging over Qualcomm, the PC industry is rather concerned that it could derail the expected boom in laptop sales. That’s because the star of the Copilot+ AI PC show is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X processor, which uses a version of Nuvia’s CPU design, as it’s currently the only chip that’s ratified for use in Microsoft’s AI PC ecosystem.
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Your next upgrade
(Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
(Image credit: Future)
Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
I don’t think that will happen because so much capital has already been invested in theWindows on Armand Copilot+ ecosystems, a successful outcome for Arm in the legal battle would probably initiate a swathe of fresh lawsuits against it from the likes of Microsoft, Dell, Asus, and so on. And it would also put off any company from wanting to use Arm in the PC industry for a long time.
But until there’s a concrete conclusion to the two-year licencing battle, the new wave of AI PCs might find itself coming ashore in a gentle splash, rather than the impressive crash that PC vendors are hoping for.
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