back to indexCristiano Amon: Qualcomm CEO | Lex Fridman Podcast #280
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Talking about exciting thing for an engineer, the same
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Snapdragon that goes to a phone and it can go to a Galaxy
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phone, for example, Samsung, the same, not a special one, went
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all the way to Mars. You expect to have a full day of battery
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life. But then you wanted to not be sending data into 10 or
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100 megabits, you want gigabits, you wanted to be able to
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have eight core processors, you want to have a GPU with rate
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tracing, you want to have all of those things that you can
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only get into sometimes a desktop PC. To do all of that in
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your phone is an incredible thing.
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Some people raise concerns about there not being enough
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studies about the effects of 5G on the human body. It's 5G
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The following is a conversation with Cristiano Aman, the
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CEO of Qualcomm, the company that's one of the leaders in the
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world in the space of mobile communication and computation.
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That's 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G that connects billions of phones and
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the Snapdragon processor and system on a chip that is the
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brain of most of the premium Android phones in the world.
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This is a Lex Freeman podcast. To support it, please check out
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our sponsors in the description. And now, dear friends,
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here's Cristiano Aman.
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You are originally from Brazil, so let me ask the most
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important question, the most profound question, the biggest
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question. Who's the greatest football soccer player of all
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Look, everybody's going to say Pele. And actually, I was born
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during the game of Brazil and Italy that Pele gave Brazil
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the championship. Actually, my dad tells me that the doctor
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had a TV on at the delivery room. But so everybody will say
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Pele, but I really like Ronaldo. The first Ronaldo, the first
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Ronaldo, I really like him. That's my favorite player.
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By the way, not everybody would say Pele. But we should leave
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that on the table and agree to disagree.
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Brazilians will say Pele.
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Yes. There's other countries around that region that made
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you may disagree a little. Very aware. Qualcomm is largely
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responsible for 5G and some of the greatest processors in our
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smartphones ever built. So we got communication and
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computation tech that impacts probably billions of people. So
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if you zoom out, use a human, look at humans on earth in
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general, does it blow your mind that we have these billions of
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smartphones communicating? And each of them have the
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computational power? You know, you talk about 10 billion
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transistors. That's a million times more than 50 years ago in
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the best computers in the world. Like if you just zoom out as a
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human, does that blow your mind?
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Absolutely. Look, one of the reasons I think I love this
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company is we know that the technology we develop can change
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the world. And I'll tell you one more thing. Beyond the amount of
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processing power that you have now and the palm of your hands
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and being every one of the word is connected with broadband
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technology. The smartphone is also mankind's largest
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development platform. There's nothing like it.
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So you respect both the hardware and the software?
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Both. Both. If aliens were observing earth over the past
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50 to 70 years, how do you think they would describe this
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particular turmoil, fun things going on on the surface of this
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particular little planet?
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We live in interesting times. In one time, we see incredible
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development of technology for mankind just to happen in the
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last century. You know, the night from 1900 to the 2000, it
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was incredible development. Just look 2000 or 22 years ago, how
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far we're coming and where we go in with technology. It's
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What do you think they would notice? So there's road
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networks, there's all kinds of networks, there's, there's lights
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that keep popping up cities, bringing up like it from an
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alien perspective, you're observing.
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Well, what I'm going to tell you is you have this contrast of
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incredible development of technology, but then you see
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some of the things that are happening right now, which is
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probably will not expect them to happen on the 21st century,
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just won't happen in Ukraine. So I think that that will be a
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more puzzling question for the aliens, I would imagine.
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The new technology is kind of impressive. Actually, they might
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not be so puzzling because that's just human nature revealing
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itself as it has throughout human history.
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Let's talk about wireless communication. So Qualcomm was
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instrumental in developing 5G. Now you were with Qualcomm since
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the early days, the good old 90s with the 2G. But what is
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5G, including sub six gigahertz 5G and middle matter wave 5G?
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How does it work? And maybe the most important question is how
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will it change the world in the coming years?
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When we set ourselves to develop 5G, and, you know, we look
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at this, every generation of technology had a problem to be
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solved, right? So you mentioned 2G, 2G challenge, the
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challenge of CDMA was, can we give every person on Earth a
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cell phone? That was, can you get to a technology that you can
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basically allow everyone to have a mobile phone? 3G was about
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the ability to connect that to the internet. I think 4G was
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broadband and with 4G was about have the ability for you to
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have a computer in the palm of your hand. We just talk about
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that. 5G, the challenge was a little bit different. It's how
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do we build a technology for a society that is going to be a
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hundred percent connected to the cloud? How do we provide a
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technology that is going to be the last mile connectivity for
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everything? So 5G is basically been designed, eliminate all
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issues with data congestion, whether you are in a stadium,
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we talk about soccer, you're in a stadium and everyone should
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be ability to have access to broadband. So deal with congestion.
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Deal with the fact that not only people, but billions of
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things need to be connected. Create a technology that for the
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first time in Warless, you could deliver mission critical
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services. Warless used to up to 4G is is best effort. In 5G, it
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can guarantee that you're connected with the cloud. And
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then the last point of that is provide this fabric that will
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allow us as a society to look at things that are not connected
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and say that's the exception. That's why we made a comparison
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in the early days of 5G that that's going to be like
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electricity. Right now you don't have a discussion about what
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is the use cases for electricity. You don't talk about that
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anymore. You just assume it's there and that's how we think
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about everything connected to the cloud. That's what 5G is
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and that's the role of 5G.
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So first of all, everything connected to the cloud is
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interesting because the space of everything is constantly
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increasing. That is correct. You know, I don't think the
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refrigerator over there looks kind of smart, but I don't think
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it's connected yet to the cloud. So this includes Internet of
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Things. What is the full space of everything? The full space of
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everything is it's maybe going back to where you start
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defining Qualcomm. Qualcomm is about communications and
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advanced computers for low power devices. And can we make
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everything smart? You know, it can range from the robot you
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have right now on the floor, to your refrigerator, to a
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camera, to, you know, machines and manufacturing, to retail,
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etc. I can give you some examples. When we think of
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something as simple as going to the grocery shop, we see
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technology now with something that stuff would be working
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with companies like Walmart, electronic shelf labels, the
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ability for you to have smart cameras that can look at shelves
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and can the camera is smart enough to say some product
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needs to be replenished, ability to see what's trapped. So
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it's about really providing processor connectivity,
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artificial intelligence to everything. And I think that's
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one of the largest addressable markets we have for
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technology because you can't really define everything.
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Right, exactly. It's a nice market because it keeps growing
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potentially exponentially in speed. What about coverage? So
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how are we doing on the everything part? So, you know,
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there is, like I mentioned, sub six gigahertz 5G and
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there's a millimeter wave 5G. So not all 5G is made the
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same. So there's a speed, there's a bandwidth thing. And
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then there's coverage. How many people get to enjoy today?
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And how does the progress of the next 5, 10, 20, 30, 50
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years you think it looks like in terms of coverage?
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Great topic of conversation. So let's talk about this.
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When I meet with regulators across the globe, I tell them
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resistance is futile, allocate every spectrum to wireless.
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Every spectrum needs to be allocated to wireless. The
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reality is when we start moving from CDMA to OFDMA, we knew
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that there's this industry has done a lot to get more bits
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per hertz. But the reality is the massive amount of
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improvements that is required in capacity and in speed, you
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need more spectrum. You know, there's there's not so much
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we can rely on more bits per hertz. You just need more
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spectrum. And if you look, for example, what carriers
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since the 2G era, they participate in different
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license and auctions and every spectrum they accumulated
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from 2G or 3G or 4G, all of that you may be able to get
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one or two channels max of subsets, which is a channel
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is about 100 megahertz or 200 megahertz. And that's it.
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So we need more spectrum. So 5G has been designed to work
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across every spectrum from the low frequency bands.
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That's what we call the sub six. But you needed more. You
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needed to go to the millimeter wave. So that's why
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5G is a technology that you can deploy from 450 megahertz as
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an example or 600 or 700, all the way to in the 42
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gigahertz. And that's where millimeter wave comes
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into the picture. Now, let's now connect this to your question
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about coverage of 5G. The easiest thing to do is to
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deploy 5G in the new spectrum you can get, which is in the
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sub six, you see bands being auctioned across the globe
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into 3.5 gigahertz. There's nothing special about the
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band. Is this the one on one that was available because
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everything else being useful for G and you can deploy on
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that going to existing cell towers and just put a new
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equipment without having to build new towers. But when we
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go to technologies just millimeter wave, then you
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have to build more dense networks. You need to build
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more stations because a deployment in that case
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looked like a Wi Fi deployment. It's almost like Wi Fi
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access points. When you need to build more stations, you
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need permits, you need to build fiber so it takes more
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time to densify. So what you see happening is
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coverage has been built fast with sub six across the
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globe. But now the United States also have the sub six. So
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that gets you to coverage very fast. But millimeter wave,
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it's moving. And if you all will say, for example,
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Verizon, United States has had a leadership in building
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millimeter wave. It takes time. I'll say cities like
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Chicago, Manhattan, starting to get coverage.
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It will be a process over a number of years as you build
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those different access point type networks, but it's
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inevitable. There's not enough spectrum. So every 5G
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operators just a matter of time will have millimeter
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wave as well. Resistance is futile. Okay, so for
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millimeter wave, we need density of access points. And
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what's the biggest resistance for Qualcomm, for human
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civilization? Is it politicians, regulators,
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federal regulators? Is it individual humans? Is it
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not enough money from the consumer perspective? Like
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who is the biggest pain in the butt? From a Qualcomm
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standpoint, but answering the question about what it
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takes to build all this technology. I think regulators
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across the board understood the importance of 5G. I
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have not met a regulator that said it's really
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important to be late on 5G. I don't think anybody
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wants to be late on 5G. And as a result, we've seen
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enormous amount of progress in getting spectrum
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allocated to 5G. I think the real issue is the time
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that it takes to build infrastructure. You know,
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investment in 5G infrastructure, especially millimeter
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wave, is like building roads and ports. It's critical
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infrastructure. And those things take time. Like one of
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the number one obstacles you're going to hear from
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operators is site permit. You know, sometimes they have
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to negotiate municipality by municipality about
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permits to get new cell sites. But you know, the
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networks will be densified and you're going to need
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all of the capacity for the promise of the fully
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immersive augmented reality that will replace
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phones and everything being connected 100% of the
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time. This would not be a conversation with the
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CEO if I did not ask questions that make you
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nervous. Some people raise concerns about there not
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being enough studies about the effects of 5G on the
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human body. Is 5G safe? Look, I have a very simple
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answer to this question. As we build new capabilities
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such as 5G, power is going down. Especially when
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you think about reducing the number of base
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stations, the networks becoming more dense. So as
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you do that, the power becomes lower. Power radiated
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from the phone and from the tower. As you get
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closer to the tower, you don't need that much power
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to reach the tower. So as we move from 4G to 5G, I
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think we see a reduction in the amount of powers
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required to close the radio link. Now, also you
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have a number of organizations. The FCC, for
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example, has rigorous programs, which they do a
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lot of tests to validate the safety of those
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devices. And I think we have has been a model for
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other countries also to adopt the same things.
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Cellular has been around for a number of decades now.
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I think smartphones are most beloved device
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today. And I would argue how it's difficult to
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answer those questions. But I'll argue that the
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data to date, have we seen in 3G and 4G,
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you know, has shown that a lot of the initial
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concerns were not valid. We look at 5G, even though
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it's new, it's just less power. So we look at
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from a physics standpoint. So from a physics,
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from a biology perspective, there's a lot of
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evidence, there's studies that show that it's not
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dangerous, that it is in fact safe. However, the
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concern that people have is when you scale
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technology exponentially, how will that change
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human civilization? I mean, that doesn't apply to
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5G, that applies to every technology. You said
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smartphone is the most beloved device, but love
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sometimes hurts. The impact on society, we don't
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know. And there's a little bit of fear, there's
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both excitement and fear. It's a great topic, a
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conversation, actually. So let me give you
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my perspective on this. And you started to see
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some things actually happening right now. So
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let me step back. And let's talk about the fact
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that we are in a fully interconnected society.
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That when you look of the situations today, we
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talk about smartphones, largest development
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platform, so much now of our life, we are
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connected to the smartphone. And we are all
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connected and we're connected. And then we're
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building digital twins of everything. So when
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you look at that picture, when you look at the
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picture of this connected society, you started
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to have the following thoughts, which I think
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are very healthy, which means in the same way
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that in the physical world, you're entitled to
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some rights, you have obligations, and there's
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a lot of things that protect your
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integrity. I think as a rule, we're going to
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see the society evolving, so those things
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extend to your digital being of people and
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things. And I think it's just natural. It's just
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natural. It's just a natural path. And you
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started to see things like that. For example,
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the Europeans have done a lot in this area.
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I'll say the Europeans probably ahead in the
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United States, thinking about privacy laws,
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digital privacy law. Most recently, the DMA,
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the Digital Markets Act, which I think is a
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great thing. I think we believe there's
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incredible thought into enabling ability to
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regulate the digital market so that there's
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innovation and competitions. Not a single
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company can control all the data and then
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decide how things are going to work on the
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digital realm. And even if we think about
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the potential things like the metaverses,
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we're connecting physical and digital
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spaces. So I think it's a natural evolution.
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Of course, regulation and laws always
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follow technology. But the fact that we're
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moving toward interconnected society,
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there's no going back. We are a fully
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interconnected society. But there is
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opportunity to think about how the
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digital to win should people and
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governments should think about it so
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that we get the best of a technology
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without any downside. Yeah. So when you say
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digital to win, that's one of the other
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things you're excited about, which is the
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metaverse, are basically building worlds
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in the digital space. And you have to
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start to think about all the basic human
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rights that transfer from our physical
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meat vehicles out to the digital copies
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of ourselves, representations of ourselves.
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That's really important to think about.
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The thing you mentioned about regulators
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that has been, this is me speaking,
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frustrating, is like you said, they follow
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technology. So sometimes they don't get
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the technology at all. So they're very
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clumsy in writing laws that censor that
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technology in interesting ways. They
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mean good, but they can do a lot of
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unintended damage. Now both, it's a dance.
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It's a beautiful dance, but I just wish
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governments were better dance partners.
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I just see what they're kind of writing
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now about regulating social media and
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platforms like YouTube. And it's just
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really, really clumsy. They don't
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understand how machine learning works.
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I recommend their systems work. And I just
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wish they kind of caught up a little
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more because it's really important to be
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great at regulation. But also it's
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important to let companies flourish and
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embrace this new wave of technology.
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That weird dance. I'm more and more
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learning, looking at public policy, how
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much positive government can do and how
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much clumsy negative it can do.
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Unintentionally, just out of sheer
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incompetence or lack of curiosity about
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tech. That's my rant about regulators.
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I think it's a valid point. As I said
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before, I think the Europeans probably
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have a very good framework, but the
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way I'll think about it, we depend on
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have the ability to innovate. We depend
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on the free markets. We depend on the
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ability to create technology that
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will be disruptive. But at the same time,
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I think the tech companies probably
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should spend time helping governments
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understand, helping understand ahead of
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time so that they can be better
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Let's talk about one of my favorite
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topics. Snap Dragon. So Snap Dragon is a
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system on a chip. This processor has
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probably powered billions of smartphones
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over its pretty long history now, a
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decade and a half maybe. So it's
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constantly iterating. There's constant
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just like a turmoil of beautiful
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innovations happening. So last year was
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Snap Dragon 888. It was the main one
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with the 5 nanometer and this year it's
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Snap Dragon 8 Gen 1. It's a new naming
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scheme. Okay, what's the sexiest, most
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beautiful idea or concept to you about
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Snap Dragon? Let's start there. The way I
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will describe it, and I think the reason
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we have been successful with it, is to
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really understand how to build a
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platform, a single chip, like a single
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chip, that will have every single
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capability if you want to make this
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smartphone and the palm of your hand,
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you know, something that has all of
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your computing needs. And it was the
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ability to get, from an engineering
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standpoint, ability to get into a
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single chip of not only all possible
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connectivity technology, from cell
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alert, to Wi Fi, to Bluetooth, to every
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single constellation of satellites for
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position location. But at the same time,
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you know, a very power efficient, you
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know, single threaded, multi threaded
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CPU. A GPU for your, all of your
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graphic demands, gaming, fastest growing
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segment for gaming, is mobile gaming.
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An artificial intelligence processor,
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which we call the neural processor
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unit. And then a video engine, a
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multimedia engine for every single
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application, audio, everything. So it's
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a single chip that has every single
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computing technology you need in the
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phone. And what's exciting about it, is
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what we already knew, for example, when
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you think about camera or computer
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vision, you see that the
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advancements in the technology now
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happens in the smartphone first, versus
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additional camera. So the beauty about
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the Snapdragon is, we always have this
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thing with within Qualcomm. The phone,
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it's small, you have to be able to hold
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it, you're going to touch your face so
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you cannot be hot, you have to manage
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thermals, you expect to have a full day
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of battery life. But then you wanted to
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not be sending data into 10 or 100
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megabits, you want gigabits, you wanted
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to be able to have eight core processors,
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you want to have a GPU with ray tracing,
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you want to have all of those things
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that you can only get into sometimes a
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desktop PC. And to do all of that in your
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phone and be able to be in the
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leadership position generation after
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generation is an incredible thing. And
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we're very proud of that at Qualcomm.
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Yes, you have to do the Y5, 5G, all the...
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And you have to be good at every one of
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those technologies. Pack it all in
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and there's also pressure to make the
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thing faster and faster and faster
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and then there's more and more
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applications that you're supposed to be
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effortlessly using. And then you
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mentioned the NPU, GPU, CPU, they have to
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also dance together somehow, that to
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communicate well, share memory or not
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depending on what the application is.
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And your battery has to last all day.
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So think about that, from a company like
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Qualcomm, we have to be good and each and
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every one of those technologies, we can
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just say, oh, we're a CPU company or a GPU
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company or we're AI company, we have to
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do everything. What does it take to
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design a great processor? So design this
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system on a chip that you mentioned, is
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there some insight you can provide in
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this chaos of engineers, designers,
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leaders, the people that think
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about how much this is all going to
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cause the whole mess of it?
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I'm of course very partial about it. I've
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been in this company for probably more
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than 26 years. But I'll argue that
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there are a couple things that are
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ingredients for the success. So we talk
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about the fact that you have all those
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different technologies, they evolve at
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their own pace and you have to be good
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in each one of them and you needed them
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to make them working together.
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So you need to have an
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engineering organization that's with
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incredible collaboration culture
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because everybody has to be working. The
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train is going to leave the station,
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every cart needs to be there. When it
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leaves the station, it needs to leave on
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time, especially in the phone business.
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You can change Christmas, you cannot
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change Black Friday, you cannot change
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all of the selling seasons. So the phones
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are going to launch on time and every
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technology needs to be there. The
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engineer needs to work as one and we do
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have that at Qualcomm. The other thing
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you have to have incredible discipline
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because those are very complex
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systems. So in one way you have to
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design with quality because in many
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cases we're going to be ramping
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production and even before we have the
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silicon back and you have to rely on
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our simulation models and you have to
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rely on the fact that
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you design for commercial
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applications. That takes a while
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to build and it's probably been
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the history of a semiconductor
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business at Qualcomm. So you mean like
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the framework of how many people can
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use simulation software and all that
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kind of stuff to build the thing
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with a hard deadline that you might
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not even get back from
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like manufacture before. You're not
link |
allowed to have any mistakes. No wonder
link |
our name is quality communications. Oh
link |
I never even thought about the
link |
Qual part. Quality. So quality and
link |
there's a bar that's high and you're
link |
not allowed to mess up. I mean to me as
link |
an engineer that's exciting. Hard
link |
deadlines. No room for mistakes. I love
link |
it. Super stressful but I love it. So
link |
there's a couple of other small
link |
called Google and Apple. So Google is
link |
now using its own chip for the Pixel
link |
6. Apple using its own. How does
link |
Qualcomm outcompete Google and Apple?
link |
How does it beat them? We don't have to
link |
outcompete Google. Actually if you look
link |
of our mobile strategy today and then
link |
one thing I was very clear when I
link |
became CEO. I think there's a lot of
link |
confusion in the market. Our mobile
link |
strategy is very clear. We are focused
link |
of making Snapdragon synonymous with
link |
premium Android experience. That's what
link |
Snapdragon is. Android. The phone of the people.
link |
Yes. I just have a love for Android. No
link |
I'm constantly talking trash to iPhone
link |
people. Sorry go ahead. Premium
link |
Android experiences. So we do
link |
produce Snapdragon in multiple tier
link |
for every price point but you know every
link |
year you mentioned the HN1 and every
link |
year we provide you know the flagship
link |
product and then the other series
link |
that is trying to get the best of
link |
every possible technology at that time.
link |
And it's really focused on enabling the
link |
Android ecosystem. So I'll give an
link |
example. So you asked me the question
link |
how to compete with Google. It's not
link |
about competing with Google. We're the
link |
number one enabler of the Google
link |
Android ecosystem. And the largest
link |
largest and number one customer there
link |
is actually Samsung. And if you look
link |
what happened to Samsung. Samsung
link |
I always had since I began my
link |
began my relationship with them because
link |
they always had their own chip. They
link |
always had their own chip. And if you'll
link |
just look what happened right now with
link |
the Galaxy S22 that just launched. You
link |
know they used to balance their
link |
business about 50% Qualcomm. They will
link |
get the most advanced markets like the
link |
United States and China and Japan and
link |
Korea they will assign a Qualcomm. And
link |
then they'll have their own chip for the
link |
markets that they would will be like
link |
more emerging markets open markets
link |
markets that they have a control on the
link |
channel because they sell a lot of
link |
appliances and other things. If you look
link |
what happened right now GS22. 75% is
link |
Qualcomm. And then the next large OEMs
link |
and Android system are the Chinese
link |
ones. Companies like Xiaomi. One of the
link |
fastest growing. It was number one in
link |
Europe at some point last year. Then
link |
followed by OPPO and OnePlus and Vivo.
link |
So those are some of the largest
link |
Qualcomm customers. And they actually
link |
drive the Android ecosystem. And that's
link |
our mobile strategy. And fully aligned
link |
with Google. And it's working. And I was
link |
you know I'm not to get into a lot of
link |
the investor conversation. But we're
link |
also happy we became in a beneficiary
link |
of the shifts that we saw in the
link |
marketplace. As Huawei became a smaller
link |
OEM as a result of the sanctions. We saw
link |
the rise of a lot of the other OEMs from
link |
China. Especially for China domestic
link |
market Xiaomi OPPO Vivo. They moved to
link |
the premium category. They're all doing
link |
that with Qualcomm. So we're actually
link |
very fortunate and happy with the
link |
position we are in mobile business. We
link |
do have an Apple relationship. We
link |
provide modem technology to Apple. It's
link |
a multi year relationship. Apple has
link |
been very public that they are
link |
investing to develop their own modem.
link |
But the Qualcomm strategy has been
link |
clear. We're really focused on
link |
Snapdragon. Our mobile
link |
strategy is not defined by providing
link |
a cellular modem to Apple. Our mobile
link |
strategy is this that we just talk
link |
about it. It's about the unique thing
link |
of Snapdragon. It has every single
link |
technology integrated into a single
link |
SoC. It provides a premium
link |
experience. And that's what we're doing
link |
and focusing on the Android ecosystem. I
link |
don't know if I can ask you this kind
link |
of question. It's like picking your
link |
children or something like this. But
link |
what smartphone the Snapdragon. You
link |
mentioned Samsung Galaxy S22. One
link |
plus those are phones I personally
link |
really enjoy. What phone do you currently
link |
use. Or do you have multiple phones. I
link |
do have multiple phones but I do use
link |
Galaxy S22. That's your favorite one.
link |
All right. Well you heard it here first
link |
folks. Okay so excellent. Can Qualcomm
link |
also let's take a brief step away from
link |
mobile. And take on Intel and Apple
link |
and other such companies in the laptop
link |
and desktop space. So the nature of what
link |
a computer is seems to be changing. It's
link |
like smartphones like merging. It's all
link |
being a smartphone just with the biggest
link |
screen or something like this. So what
link |
is the future of that look like. Before
link |
I answer that question. Let me just step
link |
back a little bit. Because and I'm sure
link |
we can we can talk more about those
link |
things. But the the reality is Qualcomm
link |
is changing a lot. And we use I know we
link |
spend a lot of time talking about 5G
link |
and smartphone and Snapdragon. And I
link |
think that has been what had defined
link |
Qualcomm for many years. But the
link |
reality is even consistent with that
link |
5G conversation. Which is a technology to
link |
connect everything. Qualcomm is also
link |
changing. Our technology that was in
link |
many cases designed for phones. And we
link |
said at the beginning. Connectivity and
link |
processing. Is going to virtually every
link |
industry. And as a result Qualcomm
link |
is really changing with it. And expending
link |
to a number of different addressable
link |
markets. Some of those markets is the
link |
PC. As you talk about it. The the
link |
conversions of mobile and PC. And the
link |
reason I'm excited about this. Because
link |
you see a lot of things happening that
link |
bring this right front and center when
link |
you think about the future technology.
link |
So what we learn with the pandemic. Is
link |
that the number one use case of
link |
personal computers. Is communications.
link |
It is interesting when you think about
link |
that. That's the number one use case on
link |
a PC today is communications. It's
link |
actually funny because in the cellular
link |
industry. Actually I'll say let me step
link |
back. In the telecom industry. We've been
link |
chasing this killer application of
link |
video telephony for decades right. I
link |
remember. Back then in the wire line.
link |
Even before the internet and IP ISDN.
link |
You remember those AT&T desk phones of
link |
a little screen. And I said you can do
link |
video telephony. We don't watch that. In
link |
back to the future too. Then when we
link |
started developing 3G said people said
link |
what's the application for having data
link |
to itself. All video telephony. Then we
link |
started doing 4G. And in the beginning
link |
people said well why do you need all
link |
this broadband. All video telephony. But
link |
it took a pandemic. To make video
link |
telephony. The killer application. And
link |
that's now the number one use case on a
link |
PC. So now think about that for a
link |
second. Personal computers now. There
link |
are technologies that people when they
link |
are going to buy a PC. They didn't care
link |
much about it. Now they do. Camera.
link |
Camera. How good is the camera. The audio.
link |
Is that connected. How good is the
link |
connectivity. Do you have the latest and
link |
greatest Wi Fi in cellular. What's the
link |
battery life. Because you're going to be
link |
working from anywhere. Sometimes you
link |
need to ask. Sometimes you're not. So all
link |
those things. What's the portability
link |
like. So those things started to change
link |
how we should think about the PC. But I
link |
won't stop there. Let me talk about
link |
another trend. So in it. And all come as
link |
a result of what we saw the pandemic.
link |
Let's say that you are. You're an
link |
engineer. You're the computer aided
link |
design. You have advanced desktop
link |
computer or workstation in your office.
link |
But you want to work from home someday. So
link |
you're not going to move that to your
link |
home. So what do you need to do. You're
link |
going to have to rely on that. You're
link |
going to run that on the cloud. And you
link |
can run another cloud. You need high
link |
bandwidth. Because you almost want the
link |
cloud. To be. The same as your computer
link |
for that use case. That's the 5g on
link |
demand computing use case. The use 5g
link |
is almost a link between two computers.
link |
But then. You know CIOs are saying well
link |
my workforce is going home for some
link |
days. I want all the data to be in the
link |
cloud. You look at for example Microsoft
link |
OneDrive. Or the ability to collaborate.
link |
You need the bandwidth. So that when you
link |
put all of those things together. You
link |
start thinking about what is the next
link |
generation PC. And that's the
link |
opportunity for Qualcomm. I'm just giving
link |
an example. Back in Mobile World
link |
Congress. Recently Lenovo. They have a
link |
line of enterprise laptops called the
link |
ThinkPad. I'm sure you're familiar with
link |
it. So they announced the ThinkPad
link |
based on Snapdragon. With 5g on. 28
link |
hours of battery life. So that's
link |
next generation. It's just a nice screen
link |
with extremely high. Nice screen and
link |
keyboard. And extremely high connectivity
link |
to maybe an even more like a more
link |
powerful machine in the cloud. Something
link |
more the data connecting to the data
link |
connecting to compute all that kind of
link |
stuff. You have the camera
link |
capabilities. Let me go one step more.
link |
Microsoft talking about some of the
link |
features they're doing now. Using on
link |
Windows 11. Using Snapdragon. Remember
link |
we talk about a Snapdragon has an AI
link |
processor inside there. So one of the
link |
cool features Microsoft's talking about
link |
it is. You can be on a team's call. And
link |
you can make sure your eyes are looking
link |
at the camera. 100% of the time.
link |
Well that's an interesting so they can
link |
be talking about that. And you do that
link |
with AI. Yes. That's really tricky to
link |
pull off. For example the reason I'm a
link |
huge stickler for doing these in person.
link |
These conversations in person. It's
link |
really tough to get right. But it's a
link |
worthy challenge. So that's where the
link |
metaverse hopes to. So like I just
link |
because you said the importance of this
link |
telephony. Of humans connecting
link |
teleporting themselves. Getting that
link |
right is really difficult. There's a lot
link |
of people hate Zoom meetings. But that
link |
doesn't mean you can't improve that
link |
experience. And get rid of the hate. A
link |
lot of people hate talking to the car
link |
too. Because the voice. The natural
link |
language processing is terrible. But when
link |
it's not. It's a beautiful thing. So
link |
getting that right is. This is an
link |
opportunity. This is an opportunity.
link |
Think about it. It starts with the PC
link |
making. The PC giving you a better
link |
experience for teams. But then. It goes
link |
right back into. This trend of
link |
connecting physical and digital spaces.
link |
And all the work we're doing. With the
link |
metaverse and virtual reality and
link |
the meta reality and the future is. Why
link |
not. Call somebody or connect with
link |
somebody with a hologram. It's possible.
link |
And also to mention. Some. Increasing
link |
amount of intelligence in our cars. So
link |
semi autonomous autonomous cars and the
link |
interactivity between human and. And car.
link |
Which for me things are. Really
link |
exciting. Let me ask you a big question.
link |
So when when aliens again now on the
link |
other side. Right. And humans destroy
link |
themselves through nuclear war centuries
link |
from now. Let's hope not. Let's hope
link |
not. But in case you know let's just
link |
hypothetical thought experiment. And
link |
they write a history of humanity in the
link |
twenty first century. What would they
link |
remember Qualcomm. In the twenty first
link |
century as a company would be a car
link |
company. Would it like think of all the
link |
crazy pivots that might happen the next
link |
like. Fifty years. Because because you're
link |
thinking you said. Qualcomm enables all
link |
of these things with 5G and they'll be
link |
probably. Other G's. It keeps increasing.
link |
So basically connectivity and
link |
computation. And everything becomes
link |
connected and everything is capable of
link |
computation. Might you be become a
link |
robotics and car company. I will argue
link |
we already an automotive company today
link |
and but. Let me tell what I. Would I
link |
like Qualcomm to be. Remember and
link |
recognize for. I think everyone. The
link |
knows Qualcomm. Immediately. You know
link |
connect us pun intended. To connectivity
link |
and wireless. But the reality is. We're
link |
been actually the company providing
link |
intelligence. And in processing. To
link |
everything on the edge. Everything
link |
outside the data center. That's we're
link |
doing. Those billions of devices are
link |
going to be connected. And and that's
link |
kind of explain when we talk about the
link |
connected intelligent edge. To be on
link |
phones. Cars. B. C. and all of those. And
link |
the broader I. O. T. as we talk about
link |
everything will be connected intelligent.
link |
And that's what we want Qualcomm to be
link |
recognized for. So by the way for people
link |
who are not familiar. There's some
link |
technical jargon. But people use the
link |
word edge. Like edge computing. It's up
link |
by the way that's probably changing
link |
what that even means. It's basically
link |
everything that's not a giant thing
link |
that's make a lot of noise in a
link |
building somewhere. So it's mobile
link |
devices. And the mobile devices of all
link |
kinds of well. A refrigerator is not
link |
mobile. But it would be edge. So it's
link |
like what's a sandwich. That kind of
link |
discussion. But basically edge
link |
computing. Is is. The edge of that
link |
expanding space you mentioned. That
link |
Qualcomm is trying to. Connect. And
link |
enable with computation. Here's a simple
link |
way to describe. What the edge. Is an
link |
edge computing is. I think as we think
link |
about the evolution of the data center.
link |
You need to bring the computational
link |
closer to the devices. Also when you
link |
put the computation together with the
link |
connectivity. At the same time. You're
link |
going to see a lot of advancement of
link |
artificial intelligence. Happening
link |
closer. Or at the device. Look it's a
link |
very. I have a simple way to describe.
link |
Remember. In the beginning of this
link |
conversation we talk about. In the 4G
link |
era. Broadband. And mobile computing
link |
evolve side by side. If you're going to
link |
have broadband you might as well have a
link |
computer in the palm of your hand. So
link |
we needed to invest in those two
link |
technologies. In 5G AI develops side by
link |
side. You're connected to the cloud 100
link |
percent of the time. You have a high
link |
bandwidth. And you have now a smart and
link |
intelligent thing that can make decision
link |
in real time. Provide context information
link |
to the cloud to make the models more
link |
accurate. And as well compare and
link |
contrast to the cloud. So there's going
link |
to be an exponential development AI
link |
happening. With. All the edge devices. The
link |
devices they're outside the data center.
link |
And computation is going to go alongside
link |
that. And a great example that's the car.
link |
The car. You know. We haven't talked much
link |
about the car. But you know Qualcomm is
link |
now. You could argue was as much as an
link |
automotive company as a wireless
link |
company working 26 global brands. And
link |
it's easy to see. If you look at our
link |
mobile heritage. And we talk about
link |
form factors. Thermal. Battery life.
link |
You're not going to put a server in a
link |
trunk of a car. But you need as much
link |
computational capabilities. And as we
link |
see Qualcomm. Providing. You know as the
link |
car become a connected computer on wheels.
link |
We provide the computational. And all
link |
the sensors for you to do assisted
link |
driving. For the new digital cockpit
link |
experience. Connecting the car to the
link |
cloud. And it's all of that's happening
link |
at the end. This Qualcomm want to be the
link |
brain. Of a lot of autonomous vehicles
link |
in the future of different. You said
link |
brands. Like Mercedes BMT. I don't know
link |
whatever. Just whatever car. You know.
link |
Cars have the sexy thing they do. And
link |
then it defines their brand. And so on.
link |
And then there's the brain. That
link |
doesn't need to have branding suppose.
link |
You know. So does Qualcomm see that. Or
link |
will I be able to buy a Qualcomm car.
link |
Like literally. No. You're not going to
link |
be able to buy a Qualcomm car. But we
link |
are ready. We're ready. On our way. To
link |
become. You know the brains of the car.
link |
The way you should think about Qualcomm
link |
automotive strategy is. The car
link |
companies. Realize. They need to become
link |
technology companies. You just look for
link |
example. Of the market cap. Of some of
link |
the new. Electrical. Commerce. And
link |
compare them with. With the legacy. Car
link |
companies. Which one is that I heard of.
link |
Well let's just use an example. One of
link |
them lives in Austin. Let's say Rivian.
link |
Right. Rivian. Oh that one too. Yes. You
link |
know the car companies are not going
link |
away. It's actually a mistake not to bet
link |
in the car companies. The car companies
link |
need a technology partner. That will
link |
provide. The digital chassis. For them.
link |
And that's what we're doing. So if you
link |
look at Qualcomm we talk about a
link |
Snapdragon digital chassis. So. We. Want
link |
to be the preferred technology partner.
link |
Off. The car companies and I think it's
link |
working. Strategy is working right now.
link |
So basically. Helping company. The car
link |
companies accelerate into this. Into
link |
becoming technology companies. Connecting
link |
the car to the cloud. We design the
link |
interior of the digital cockpit
link |
experience. And provide the computation
link |
and sensor capabilities for autonomy
link |
and assisted driving. On the topic of
link |
robots. When millions or billions of
link |
robots roam the earth in the future.
link |
Among us humans. And I am. For one.
link |
Concerned. In a small percentage. But
link |
largely I'm excited about that future.
link |
Will Qualcomm. Be. The thing that powers
link |
their brain. We have an in our IOT
link |
business. Which has been one of the
link |
fastest growing business for us. A
link |
number of robotics engagement. So I'll
link |
give you some example. In. If you look
link |
of the Amazon Astro. You familiar with
link |
that. There's two. There's two
link |
Snapdragon in there. There is. This is
link |
really exciting. They're supposed to
link |
ship it to me. Where is it. Okay. But
link |
anyway. That's really cool. I didn't know
link |
it was Snapdragon. Yeah. We we're
link |
working with robotics in industrial.
link |
Of course. Drones. You know. We're
link |
getting. More and more traction for
link |
robotics. Sorry to interrupt. Industrial
link |
robotics too. You said industrial.
link |
Especially when you think about. What's
link |
going to happen. With. The factory of
link |
the future. The industrial side of the
link |
future. The warehouse of the future.
link |
When you bring. Five G. For example to
link |
it. And you have. A number of different
link |
use cases and. In. And then you see a
link |
lot of robotics application. And. And of
link |
course. Drones. And. The most famous. I
link |
will consider that a robot. The most
link |
famous. Robot. In the world right now.
link |
It's powered by Snapdragon. Which is
link |
the Mars. Ingenuity helicopter. Yeah.
link |
The whole helicopter. The cameras and
link |
everything. It's powered by Snapdragon.
link |
And. Talking about. Exciting thing for
link |
an engineer. The same Snapdragon that
link |
goes to a phone. And it can go to a
link |
galaxy phone. For example Samsung. The
link |
same. Not a special one. Went all the way
link |
to Mars. Is exploring other planets
link |
looking for alien life. And maybe gets
link |
to meet him. Wouldn't that be
link |
interesting. If a snapdragon is the
link |
thing that first sees an alien. Is like
link |
what the hell. We did not program this
link |
in the computer vision. I once used
link |
example to go back to the
link |
conversation we had about quality. As
link |
an engineer. You need to make sure it
link |
works. Can you imagine if it gets over
link |
there in Mars and it doesn't work. Listen
link |
this is very stressful. What NASA
link |
with SpaceX with all those companies
link |
are doing is extremely stressful. The
link |
room for mistakes is. Is tiny. But
link |
that's super exciting for an engineer
link |
once again. There's been a global
link |
semiconductor chip shortage. So from
link |
your perspective. Just to be
link |
interesting to get your expert
link |
analysis of the situation. What do you
link |
think are the main reasons. And how is
link |
quality affected. How can it help. In
link |
this. In the future. Things like it.
link |
Okay that's a. That's a. A big topic of
link |
conversation. And we only have five
link |
minutes. So I'll try. I'll try to be as
link |
objective as I can. So first let's
link |
talk about what caused it. And I. You
link |
know you hear a lot of different things.
link |
I would try to put it within the right
link |
context. The first thing that caused it
link |
really. Is the acceleration of digital
link |
transformation. Of pretty much. Everything
link |
in every industry. Every industry has
link |
been digitally transformed. And as such.
link |
The amount of semiconductors that are
link |
required is much larger. Just to give
link |
you a practical example. If you think
link |
about the automotive as an example. The
link |
cars there are you. There's cars there
link |
are launch a new model launching today.
link |
The new model launching today most
link |
likely has ten x the amount of chips.
link |
Off the prior model. And the model is
link |
people working on this coming in next
link |
probably ten x that one. So you see the
link |
amount of silicon and in billions of
link |
things become smart. More and more data
link |
goes to the cloud. The data center grows.
link |
So the floor for semiconductor
link |
consumptions went up by a lot. Then you
link |
have things that aggravated this. The
link |
pandemic aggravated this. There is a
link |
couple trends. From the pandemic. The
link |
enterprise transformation of the home. The
link |
home became an enterprise massive
link |
amount of upgrades on broadband and iot.
link |
The office. Has changed to the way we
link |
work now. In including the ability to
link |
support collaboration tools and video.
link |
Then you have. The. Higher demand. For
link |
for products. Doing the pandemic. Because
link |
people wanted to be connected. People
link |
bought new phones and new tablets and
link |
new computers. New gaming. So all of
link |
those things came on top of that. As.
link |
That aggravated the issue. But they're
link |
not the main issue. The main issue is.
link |
It's actually. A long term growth. Of
link |
digital. So what i'm hearing you say. Is.
link |
The pandemic was not the cause. It was
link |
an aggravation. Is an aggravation. So. Is
link |
there a way. We can support. As a human
link |
civilization. In terms of manufacture. In
link |
terms of supply. The kind of growth that
link |
you're talking about. In devices and so
link |
on. Is there. High level ideas you can
link |
save. What that's required there. Yes and
link |
i think that's. The second part of the
link |
answer. So what's happening now. How are
link |
we gonna get out of this. So. We see a
link |
lot. Of capacity investments put into
link |
place by the industry. You know we had
link |
invested a lot of our suppliers. A lot
link |
of the suppliers. Had made. Plans about.
link |
You know. Increasing the capacity industry
link |
explaining to double. It's total
link |
semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
link |
Within the next. Five years an example. So
link |
that's already happening. And then you
link |
see things which are actually good.
link |
They're good. The initiative such as the
link |
United States chips act. And now the
link |
European chips act. The United States
link |
chips acts about fifty two billion
link |
dollars. The Europeans about forty three.
link |
Their goal combined. Is to get at least
link |
fifty percent of the consumption. With
link |
manufacturing stalled within the US.
link |
And European geographies. And that's
link |
also very good. That's yet another.
link |
Incentive for more manufacturing capacity
link |
be built. And to be built. With a
link |
geographic distributed way. Which that's
link |
how you plan supply chains. So those.
link |
Those I think are good things. So if
link |
anything we learn. Through the crisis. Is
link |
this a my conductor. Is important. My
link |
conductor companies are important. And
link |
we need to invest in semiconductors.
link |
Returning to the grilling of the CEO. The
link |
hard questions. This is almost for my own
link |
education of the space. You mentioned
link |
regulators. Qualcomm paid out and
link |
received payment of billions of dollars
link |
and settlement and fines. There seems to
link |
be a lot of huge lawsuits in the space.
link |
How do you explain that. Does. Does this
link |
get in the way of innovation. Or does it
link |
promote it. I will rephrase it by saying
link |
they used to be. A lot. Of lawsuits in
link |
this space. In addition. Of. Of what we do
link |
in semiconductors. You know our processors
link |
and our our modems. The Snapdragon
link |
platform. We also have a licensing
link |
business. Which has been a part of the
link |
company since the beginning. As the
link |
largest. Inventors. Of the essential
link |
technology. In. Two G. CDMA. Three G. Four
link |
G. And five G. You know and Qualcomm
link |
contribute that to the standards. So we
link |
always had this model that. Rather than
link |
invent the technology and be the only
link |
one producing the products we license
link |
so everyone can produce it. And. And as
link |
such we receive intellectual property.
link |
For the standard essential patents. As
link |
part of our past dispute with Apple.
link |
That's behind us now. Your friends now.
link |
They're. They're. They're my customers.
link |
And. And as part of that I think the. The
link |
licensing model. Yes. Got tested. In. I
link |
think in every geography. And we
link |
succeeded. In every single geography. To
link |
validate. The. Pro competitive. The
link |
next of this model. I think the. The
link |
fair reasonable non discriminatory
link |
aspect of this model. And I would argue
link |
that. Besides being the most successful
link |
licensing business to date. And the
link |
industry. Probably the one that's been
link |
battle tested. And this most stable.
link |
Because there's not a single. Jurisdiction
link |
that we have not. Had to validate that
link |
model. So. It's part of our past. And what
link |
he creates is probably create a lot of
link |
stability. No licensing business. But
link |
having said that. The growth of the
link |
company is in the semiconductor space.
link |
And the semiconductor. So licensing is
link |
you come up with a pretty good idea. You
link |
have a bunch of smart people coming up
link |
with cool ideas. And then once you come
link |
up with that idea. You sell that idea to
link |
others. They get to use it. That's
link |
essentially what a license. The license
link |
revenue we have. Is. Is for the. What we
link |
call the SCP. Standard essential patents.
link |
That are part of. The. Two G. Three G. Four
link |
G. And five G. Standards. So if you want
link |
to build anything with five G. You need
link |
it to. Get a license from Qualcomm.
link |
Because uses Qualcomm. Essential
link |
technology is part of the standard. And
link |
a slightly different model. Or a lot
link |
different model. The semiconductor. Is
link |
you design. You inject a bunch of
link |
fascinating ideas. How to build the
link |
snapdragon. And then there's. Because it's
link |
a fabulous company. You have somebody
link |
build. The. This. The. The chip. And it
link |
goes into a phone with the branding and
link |
all that kind of stuff. And. And that
link |
has less kind of. Players involved. It's
link |
not a license. We sell the product. In
link |
the semiconductor. We don't license
link |
semiconductor technology. We build
link |
products. And we sell products. This is
link |
your first year as a CEO. No. Not one
link |
year yet. Not one year yet. Yeah. Let's
link |
hope it'll be in June. It'll be one year.
link |
Okay. This is a. A company that's
link |
involved. With a lot of fascinating
link |
technologies. And it's touching the lives
link |
of billions of people. A lot of
link |
complicated stuff. Like I said, licensing
link |
technologies. You have to collaborate
link |
with manufacturers. You have to then work
link |
with however many you said car companies
link |
and all these clients and so on. And you
link |
have to. You know with with tech
link |
companies. Apple and so on. What's that
link |
like? What lessons have you learned
link |
about leadership? And maybe about
link |
yourself as a human being from this
link |
first. Almost a year. Soon to be a year
link |
as a CEO of this incredible, this
link |
complex, this large company. That's a
link |
little bit of a question. Let me answer
link |
in reverse order. First thing that I
link |
learned. And I think it's probably
link |
common. Across CEOs. Especially in our
link |
industry. Yes. It will be great if I had
link |
more time. I think there's. Especially
link |
because we're growing so many areas. And
link |
there's so many things to learn. So many
link |
relationships to build. Time to spend
link |
with a number of different technologies.
link |
And. And. But I kind of reflect really
link |
the size of the opportunity that exists
link |
for Qualcomm. Qualcomm. It is really
link |
growing in a number of different
link |
directions. All at the same time. And
link |
so it did got busier. And part of this
link |
is because I'm spending a lot of time
link |
understanding the new industries we're
link |
going in and building
link |
relationships. Second thing, which is a
link |
lot to do with how I think about things
link |
and a little bit of my personality. At
link |
the end of the day, business
link |
partnerships really done by people. And
link |
I think the importance of having trusted
link |
relationships for the long term is
link |
extremely important. And I've been
link |
dedicated to do that as CEO. We're not
link |
a company that plays for the short term.
link |
We don't. And when we build new
link |
partnerships, we expect that to be for
link |
decades. And so I spend time doing that.
link |
And I think that's important for Qualcomm.
link |
The other part of your question is we do
link |
have a lot of opportunities in all
link |
different areas. What we like
link |
and I've been fortunate enough to become
link |
CEO at a time that a lot of the trends
link |
are pointing to our technology. We talk
link |
about some of them. We talk about
link |
merger of physical and digital spaces.
link |
We talk about the transformation of the
link |
automobile. We talk about the merge of
link |
computing and mobile. The enterprise
link |
transformation of the home. There are
link |
many of those trends. And those trends
link |
create opportunities for Qualcomm to be
link |
providing technology first and as such
link |
we're in a hurry. So I'm in a little bit
link |
of a hurry because I think the
link |
opportunity is incredible for technology
link |
but having fun and enjoying the job.
link |
Is there a burden because of so much
link |
what you said is partnerships and
link |
almost like friendships, connections
link |
with other human beings. Me as an
link |
introvert that has a lot of social
link |
anxiety, that seems extremely
link |
stressful. So is there that burden on
link |
your shoulders? You have to wake up every
link |
day and talk to friends you've had for
link |
many years. It could be, you know, and
link |
then convince them and make
link |
partnerships with them. Talk with them.
link |
Describe to them the future. Sell them an
link |
idea and then yourself grow because you
link |
don't know what the heck the future is
link |
going to be like. You have to project
link |
both confidence and humility. All those
link |
kinds of things. Is that exhausting?
link |
It is exhausting but it's something I
link |
do like to do and it's not only with
link |
partners really. It's also internally to
link |
your employees. I think to get alignment
link |
on the vision and faith in the vision
link |
and execute and at the end of the day
link |
we're very fortunate. We have a lot of
link |
smart people. So people when if they're
link |
aligned with the vision they know what
link |
to do and then of course as CEO you
link |
have to convince your investors that
link |
that's the right idea as well.
link |
If you can put on your wise sage hat.
link |
Do you have advice for young people in
link |
high school and college? You yourself
link |
started from the humble beginnings in
link |
Brazil. Maybe a bit of a wild risky
link |
decision to go to Japan and now are at
link |
the head of one of the biggest, most
link |
successful, most impactful companies in
link |
the world. Given that story can you give
link |
advice to young people today that you
link |
know how they can have a career or just
link |
the life they can be proud of? I think
link |
the first thing and of course all
link |
those answers are going to relate to
link |
my own experience right. The first thing
link |
is it always work for me to have a
link |
plan. Even if the plan is just what I'm
link |
going to do in the next two years but
link |
what do I want to do? Where do I want to
link |
important for people especially young
link |
people is to really
link |
have a dream and go pursue it. I mean
link |
have dreams not go back to bed to sleep
link |
is really what do you want to
link |
accomplish and then what it's going to
link |
take to do that and then believe in
link |
yourself. Like I said I joined
link |
Qualcomm as an engineer and I didn't
link |
have any plans when I joined to be CEO
link |
but I do want as an engineer what I
link |
wanted to do, where I want to
link |
contribute what I wanted to work on and
link |
then and then keep evolving from that
link |
point in time. The other thing is this
link |
is an advice, it's more of like career
link |
advice that I got early in my
link |
career was extremely helpful for me
link |
and I will give that advice to everyone
link |
that is interested.
link |
Spend time understanding what are the
link |
things you're good at and what are
link |
things you're not. Like what is that
link |
real border between your area of
link |
competence and your area of
link |
incompetence and once you see that once
link |
you see that you know exactly what you
link |
have to work on and you can say I can
link |
if I did that's what I want to go next
link |
this is the gap I need to do it and it's
link |
it's faster when you can identify
link |
yourself before other people can tell
link |
you then it leads to
link |
automatically the next step. Surround
link |
yourself the people they're very good
link |
the things that you're not.
link |
So yes you're radically honest about the
link |
things that you're not good at but
link |
given what you're passionate about you
link |
need to get good at or you would like to
link |
get good at and surround yourself by
link |
those people. How often did the plans you
link |
make actually work out? You said it's
link |
important to make plans you didn't say
link |
anything about it's important to execute
link |
on those plans. More than 50% success rate.
link |
Try to keep it above 50.
link |
What was the whole why did you end up in
link |
Japan? You know I've been fortunate
link |
enough to work in cellular and wireless
link |
my entire career so I I always like
link |
communications. When I enter engineering
link |
school my dad was electrical engineer
link |
but he worked with the utility company
link |
me to graduate in traditional electrical
link |
engineering like energy generation
link |
and but I like electronics communication
link |
so I end up doing both and
link |
and I always like communication was
link |
fascinated by wireless communication so
link |
my first job at a college is start
link |
working for a Japanese company down in
link |
was NEC and within about a year in they
link |
Tokyo asked me to go to the headquarters
link |
it was the first time I left Brazil and a
link |
little bit different from Brazil
link |
culturally different is in the other
link |
side of the planet
link |
and and that's how it started you said
link |
your father's an electrical engineer
link |
do you think what you're doing now
link |
makes your father proud I think he's very
link |
especially you know
link |
he tells me that you know I'm still the
link |
same person never change and
link |
does he still does he give you advice
link |
does he criticize what you're doing
link |
tell you how to improve my my mom and
link |
that's to give me advice today I'm very
link |
fortunate for that but
link |
he's proud also proud because there are
link |
very few Brazilians
link |
that have you know achieve a position as
link |
of a company in size of Qualcomm and I
link |
and I do know that that also I carry a
link |
you know I especially for the Latino
link |
to be an inspiration for them and make
link |
sure I set a good example
link |
so not just your your mom and dad but
link |
the culture the people that were
link |
originally your home
link |
do you uh you know life is finite
link |
do you think about your own mortality
link |
look I'm a I'm a devout Christian and
link |
so I'm a big believer that there's
link |
this is just a transition and but
link |
don't spend a lot of time thinking
link |
I am somebody good better and different
link |
try as much as possible to leave the
link |
present and that's what I do
link |
and try to make the present better on
link |
on this place here on earth absolutely
link |
absolutely and that some of these
link |
technologies some of these ideas are
link |
a different kind of immortality as well
link |
they propagate through time and have
link |
in the best possible way so technology
link |
technology can be destructive but it
link |
seems like in the end
link |
it can be it can do a lot of good
link |
more good there's more good than bad
link |
what do you think is the meaning of
link |
this whole thing I asked you about
link |
aliens observing us
link |
what what's the meaning of life
link |
what's the meaning of life
link |
that's not an easy question at all uh
link |
that's a question at least for me you
link |
have to answer individually
link |
uh but uh I do believe we're all here
link |
I you know in my prayers I always ask
link |
you know I I stay on track whatever my
link |
but I do believe we're here for purpose
link |
and we need to do the best we can
link |
during the time we have on this earth
link |
create beautiful things for you
link |
as an engineer yes and and create
link |
beautiful things yes
link |
what's the role of love in the human
link |
love's very important and uh it's an
link |
essential part of uh being human
link |
it comes in the package
link |
and uh I think if you look at the
link |
what's happening right now I think uh
link |
you look at the situation with some of
link |
the underprivileged uh
link |
communities you look at the harmless
link |
I think we all need more love
link |
yeah and I think people that build
link |
incredible technology sometimes forget
link |
the love part like those are
link |
all it's all integrated
link |
there's no thinking about humanity
link |
is really important when you build
link |
tools that empower that humanity
link |
because there's I think I at least
link |
that person I believe we're all capable
link |
of both evil and good
link |
and we have to build technology build
link |
societies build governments build
link |
communities that um inspires to
link |
to connect with the good part within
link |
I'm a big believer that technology is
link |
at the end the force for good
link |
if you just look you know not trying to
link |
move away from a deep discussion to a
link |
more uh specific technical one
link |
but if we start the conversation
link |
talk about smartphones
link |
and uh smartphones really the first time
link |
that you could say that everybody in
link |
the world was able to connect to the
link |
internet and connect to each other
link |
and I think what uh that empowerment
link |
that that provided
link |
it's an incredible force for good
link |
well the company you lead
link |
the the technology you've created
link |
one of them that I'm especially excited
link |
about which is snapdragon the whole
link |
line of processors there
link |
currently I would say at about 10
link |
billion transistors
link |
if you think about the human brain
link |
it's about a hundred billion neurons
link |
samsung galaxy 22s s22s are already
link |
and that's being nice uh to me
link |
I'm really honored to use but you're
link |
extremely valuable time with me
link |
even though you said Pillai is the
link |
beyond all of that
link |
I think you're an incredible person
link |
and you lead an incredible engineering
link |
company so thank you for doing that
link |
oh thank you so much
link |
thank you for the kind words
link |
really a pleasure having this
link |
conversation I really had a lot of fun
link |
and uh thank you for having me in your
link |
thanks for listening to this
link |
conversation with Christiana Oman
link |
to support this podcast
link |
please check out our sponsors in the
link |
and now let me leave you with some
link |
words from Stephen Hawking
link |
for millions of years
link |
mankind lived just like the animals
link |
then something happened
link |
which unleashed the power of our
link |
we learned to talk
link |
and we learned to listen
link |
speech has allowed the communication
link |
enabling human beings to work together
link |
to build the impossible
link |
mankind's greatest achievements
link |
have come about by talking
link |
and its greatest failures by not talking
link |
it doesn't have to be like this
link |
our greatest hopes could become
link |
reality in the future
link |
with the technology at our disposal
link |
the possibilities are unbounded
link |
all we need to do is make sure we keep
link |
thank you for listening
link |
and hope to see you next time