Qualcomm offered some bold claims about its future generative AI (genAI) capabilities after acquiring Vietnamese specialist MovianAI, a deal the US company intends to use to target a host of devices including smartphones.

MovianAI was the genAI division of Vingroup company VinAI, which Qualcomm stated is well-known as being skilled in genAI, machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing.

Qualcomm believes MovianAI will help it deliver “extraordinary inventions” in the genAI sector. Along with smartphones, the US company identified PCs and software-defined vehicles among the sectors set to benefit.

Jilei Hou, SVP of engineering at Qualcomm, said the acquisition brings “high-calibre talent” on board and advances its longstanding R&D efforts.

VinAI founder and CEO Hung Bui will join Qualcomm as part of the deal.

The executive counts time with Google DeepMind among his past experience, with the US company praising his AI expertise and drive to push “the boundaries of what is possible” with customised models and engineering.

Bui said the Vietnamese company is “ready to contribute to Qualcomm’s mission of making breakthroughs in fundamental AI research and scale them across industries”.

Qualcomm explained it has a more than 20-year history of working with Vietnamese companies in areas including 5G, IoT, automotive and AI.

No financial details were revealed, though VNExpress International reported the transaction involved a 65 per cent stake.