Qualcomm is one of America’s leading players in the wireless space. That being said, they are also wrestling with several weak links in their otherwise strong chain. Some of their key wireless sectors like chip sets and smartphones have weakened. This concerns investors. I believe that is why Qualcomm is trying to refocus their efforts on new segments for growth to keep investors excited.
That’s why when we pull the camera back, we see Qualcomm searching for new areas of growth in recent years. They are trying to expand their footprint and spread their focus to areas like automated driving, healthcare technology, retail and much more.
The problem with these areas are the time to market is long term. Today, they are looking for a short-term boost.
Enter AI and Chatbot technology like ChatGPT, GPT4, Bard and more. These have suddenly burst into the scene. That’s why I believe Qualcomm has hooked themselves to this runaway balloon as a new source of growth.
AT&T and Verizon tried to change and expand, and they failed
Expansion to AI and Chatbot technology could be good for Qualcomm if it works.
In recent years we have seen other wireless companies in a similar position try and fail. Remember when AT&T acquired Warner Media, Warner Brothers, CNN and more? Or when Verizon acquired AOL and Yahoo?
They said these moves were going to transform these wireless players into communications, news and entertainment giants.
The problem was it didn’t work. In fact, it turned out to be a big mistake wasting billions of dollars. In fact, even today, several years later they are still trying to recover from this wrong turn.
That’s why it is important to understand moves out of the core are not guaranteed success stories. As attractive as they sound, they must still be proven.
Qualcomm faces challenges in the traditional wireless space
Fortunately, the world is rapidly shifting to 5G, AI, Chatbot, IoT and more. But each company must prove their own way both short-term and long-term.
Competitors are being impacted by powerful changes in the wireless space. This presents a challenge. How do they continue to show strength and strong growth and in turn, keep investors happy?
Suddenly AI is becoming hot. So, seeing a growth opportunity, Qualcomm executive management is suddenly refocusing on the world of AI and Chatbot as a growth opportunity.
This is a new, rapidly growing and frankly confusing space.
This is the kind of excitement and confusion companies love because the growth potential is huge, if they can stay with the ever-changing and always moving growth curve.
Qualcomm sees new growth opportunity in AI, Chatbot space
There are two sides of the coin of AI as a growth opportunity. It is vital for every company to be focused on both sides of the coin for growth and to protect our civilization.
One side of the coin is the continual and rapid advancement and change of this hot technology.
The other side of the coin is the danger signals that are being issues by industry leaders like Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak from Apple and countless other industry leaders who are warning us to take a pause this AI advancement.
They want to make sure we know every step forward we are taking. To not rush into this new space, which could grow beyond our ability to control it.
While many agree we should slow down, the next question we should ask, is a six-month pause long enough?
At the same time, if we slow down, what about the rest of the world? Unless the whole world slows down, we will be left at a disadvantage.
The rest of the world keeps rushing down generative AI Chatbot path
That’s why, even though a pause is an important idea, I don’t think it will work. Which could leave our civilization open to the bad side of the AI coin.
This is the perplexing challenge we all face.
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And this is the challenge Qualcomm faces.
Artificial Intelligence has been with us for many decades already. AI can be a very important technology that can help us do more than we can do ourselves. Example, it can scan a patients backs and sort through countless moles looking for cancer and saving lives.
On the other hand, new generative AI versions that can write its own software going forward is creating fear and anxiety in the public. And I believe this fear and anxiety will only grow going forward.
So, the two sides of the AI coin for good and for bad will continue to grow.
We cannot stop AI, so we must control it from going off track
We must understand that we cannot stop AI. Globally, Artificial Intelligence has been with use for half a century and will be with us forever.
Plus, the benefits of AI are important, so it is not going away. However, we need to step carefully going forward to make sure we don’t make serious mistakes which we cannot correct.
Qualcomm needs a new growth engine and Chatbot technology like ChatGPT, GPT4 and Bard is just what they have been hoping for.
That’s why I believe they will now be focused on this new space going forward. It will have a faster payoff compared to automated driving, health tech and more.
Since this is a rapidly growing and controversial new sector, I believe it will create enough growth potential and confusion for companies like Qualcomm to leverage for years to come.
AI Chatbot is a sudden overnight success developing for decades
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Chatbot technology is a brand-new technology and a sudden growth opportunity. It has captured the imagination of the marketplace, investors, users, companies and executives.
In fact, Chatbot and AI technology has become a sudden, overnight success, which has actually been developing for years.
No company wants to miss this new growth opportunity.
That’s one of the key reasons Qualcomm has jumped on this as a growth opportunity. This is smart, but they must move forward with care and manage the risk to our society and civilization.
AI not unlike nuclear bomb threat from years ago
As a way to manage the dark side of AI, consider the way we handled the nuclear weapon threat decades ago.
After seeing the level of devastation, every country wanted it for defense and offense.
However, the world community, the United Nations and others created a deterrent and only a few countries have access to this technology.
That’s the kind of approach we need to implement with AI before it’s too late.
That being said, company after company, large to small are jumping into this space, wanting to use it for growth.
AI is impressive and will impact both the commercial marketplace, but also the governmental marketplace.
AI is important. On the other hand, runaway chatbot technology and generative AI going forward should be on our radar as we must proceed with caution.
AI can do great things for us as a people. However, we should also be concerned with the dark side of the same coin.
So, while I admire Qualcomm and am happy that they see AI as a growth opportunity, I urge them to keep both sides of the coin in mind as they move forward to keep their investors happy, their leadership position intact and our society safe.