Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Google have announced a major expansion of their decade-long strategic partnership, aimed at accelerating the evolution of software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and agentic AI-powered automotive experiences. The enhanced collaboration combines Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Digital Chassis with Google’s automotive software and cloud technologies, delivering secure, scalable, and AI-driven solutions for next-generation connected vehicles worldwide.
The announcement underscores both companies’ shared vision to redefine intelligent mobility, as automakers increasingly transition toward AI-first, software-centric vehicle architectures.
Advancing Agentic AI for Intelligent and Connected Cars
Building on the Gemini Enterprise for Automotive initiative unveiled in 2025, Qualcomm and Google are showcasing new AI-powered automotive solutions at CES 2026. These innovations seamlessly connect vehicles to the cloud using a hybrid architecture that blends on-device intelligence with cloud-based AI models.
This approach enables real-time personalization, proactive assistance, and voice-driven multimodal interfaces that adapt to driver behavior and preferences. For consumers, the result is smarter, safer, and more responsive vehicles, powered by always-on AI assistants capable of anticipating needs and improving driving experiences.
Unified Reference Platform to Accelerate Automotive Innovation
To help automakers reduce development complexity and speed up deployment, Qualcomm and Google are introducing a unified automotive reference platform. By closely aligning Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms with Google’s Android Automotive OS (AAOS) roadmap, starting with Android 17, the collaboration establishes a strong foundation for next-generation in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems and SDVs.
This unified platform allows automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to accelerate prototyping, streamline production cycles, and deliver high-quality digital cockpit experiences at scale, while maintaining consistency across vehicle models and regions.
Scaling Software-Defined Vehicles with Snapdragon and Android Automotive
As part of the expanded alliance, Qualcomm will serve as a lead scaling partner for Android Automotive OS in software-defined vehicle deployments. Qualcomm will deliver pre-integrated and optimized automotive software stacks on Snapdragon Digital Chassis platforms, helping automakers significantly reduce time-to-market.
The architecture supports multiple vehicle domains, including digital instrument clusters with safety-critical elements, granular over-the-air (OTA) software updates, and AI-powered fleet insights derived from telemetry and vehicle data—key enablers for connected and autonomous mobility.
“Our decade-long journey with Qualcomm Technologies has consistently pushed the boundaries of automotive innovation. As the industry rapidly transitions to an AI-powered, software-defined future, this deeper collaboration allows us to combine Google’s AI and software leadership with Qualcomm’s foundational automotive hardware platforms to deliver safer, smarter, and more personalised driving experiences globally,” said Patrick Brady, Vice President of Engineering at Google.
Cloud-First Automotive Software Development on Google Cloud
Qualcomm is also introducing the Snapdragon vSoC virtual platform on Google Cloud’s Arm-based Axion bare metal instances, enabling a cloud-first approach to automotive software engineering. With this solution, automakers and developers can design, test, and validate vehicle software entirely in the cloud, eliminating early-stage dependence on physical vehicle hardware.
Developers can begin building from a browser-based environment, allowing for global collaboration, faster iteration cycles, and scalable automotive software development, aligned with modern DevOps practices.
Nakul Duggal, EVP and Group GM, Automotive, Industrial and Embedded IoT & Robotics at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., added, “For more than 10 years, Qualcomm Technologies and Google have been transforming the automotive experience together. This expanded collaboration unites Snapdragon Digital Chassis platforms with Google’s AI and software expertise, empowering automakers to innovate faster, accelerate the shift to software-defined vehicles, and unlock the full potential of agentic AI for intelligent mobility worldwide.”
Long-Term Lifecycle Management with Project Treble
To address long-standing challenges in automotive software lifecycle management, Qualcomm is extending Project Treble to automakers using Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms. This initiative ensures predictable, secure, and efficient Android upgrades across four generations of Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms and more than 14 system-on-chip variants.
Backed by a 10-year plan for critical software and security updates, Project Treble enables vehicles to remain connected, secure, and feature-rich throughout their operational lifecycle, a key requirement for SDVs and future autonomous vehicles.
