CES 2026 Qualcomm: Qualcomm is heading into CES 2026 with a message to makers: that it will be the backbone of next-gen machines. Prior to the show, the chipmaker told us all about a significant expansion across robotics, IoT and automotive, with its eye clearly on the new Dragonwing IQ10 series processors – created to handle some very serious on-device intelligence for robots.
The announcements are part of Qualcomm’s broader desire to push beyond phones and PCs to become a fundamental platform provider for autonomous systems and industrial automation, as well as AI at the edge.
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Dragonwing IQ10 Series: Created for Real-World Robotics
The new Dragonwing IQ10 series SoCs are suitable for a broad range of robots, such as humanoids, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), and industrial robotic systems. Qualcomm said the platform enables a complete end-to-end robotics architecture, which can easily be scaled across different form factors and use cases.
Underpinning the IQ10 series are 18-core Oryon CPUs, which offer up to five times more performance than previous generation units. These chips are designed to handle complex perception, decision-making and motion control all at once, without cloud processing.
AI is a core focus here. The Dragonwing IQ10 series can handle up to 7,000 TOPS (trillion operations per second), enabling execution of complex vision models, sensor fusion and real-time inference on board the robot itself. It can also handle input from up to 20 simultaneous cameras, which is vital for humanoid vision, spatial awareness and safety.
Two factors that tend to prevent real-world robot deployment are power efficiency and safety, both of which Qualcomm highlighted. The platform is intended to enable lifelong learning through software updates so that robots can continually learn without needing a hardware upgrade.
Edge AI and IoT: Dragonwing Q-7790 and Q-8750
Robotics was joined by an extended line of IoT processors in the form of new Dragonwing Q-7790 and Q-8750 chipsets from Qualcomm. These processors are designed for edge computing use cases where latency becomes a concern and where security as well as on-device AI is more important than raw cloud connectivity.
These chips are designed by Qualcomm to be used in industrial IoT, enterprise devices, smart infrastructure and connected systems. They are designed for multimedia, local AI inference and enhanced security to help devices process data locally rather than passing everything to the cloud.
That push is supported by a string of recent acquisitions like Augentix in the intelligent camera and computer vision space. The objective is straightforward: empower AI vision systems to operate in real-time without fail, even in bandwidth-limited or mission-critical scenarios.
Automotive Update: Snapdragon's Digital Chassis Scales Up
Qualcomm also offered an update on its Snapdragon Digital Chassis, which it says now underlies more than 400 million vehicles worldwide. The portfolio ranges from digital cockpits, connectivity, ADAS and cloud throughout to software platforms for various vehicle classes.
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One notable item at the partner event was Snapdragon Ride Flex, which Qualcomm said is the first platform to run mixed-criticality ADAS workloads alongside in-vehicle infotainment on a single chip. And at the top, Snapdragon Ride Elite adds agentic AI capabilities to high-end automotive platforms that suggest increasingly autonomous and adaptive in-vehicle systems.
The Bigger Picture
What Qualcomm is demonstrating in advance of 2026 CES is a conscious move toward AI-first platforms that reside at the edge and not off in a faraway data centre. With Dragonwing IQ10 the company is betting that robots need potent, efficient and scalable silicon to safely navigate in the real world.
If these technologies take off, Qualcomm could wield the kind of influence over robotics and industrial AI that it’s had in smartphones for the past decade. The consumer electronics show in 2026 may better reveal how fast that time is coming.