Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 leans heavy into AI new leak reveals

Qualcomm is holding its annual Snapdragon Summit tomorrow, where it is expected to announce its next-gen Snapdragon chip. However, it looks like a new leak may have spoiled tomorrow’s surprise as it reveals the full specs of the processor. And it seems the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will offer a bevy of AI features.

The folks over at MSPoweruser have managed to get their hands on leaked marketing materials for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. According to the leak, the processor will boast a variety of AI tools that will enable functions like expanding photos, removing objects from videos, generating AI backgrounds, and more.

Notably, the document also mentions being able to run AI models such as Stable Diffusion and Meta’s Llama 2. Including all of these AI capabilities makes sense given the tech industry’s embrace of AI this year.

To make all of this possible, Qualcomm has given the chip an upgraded Hexagon neural processor (NPU). The marketing materials say that the new NPU is 98% faster and 40% more efficient. This is supposedly comparing the Gen 3 to the Gen 2, but the document doesn’t specify.

It’s not all about AI however, there appear to be some powerful gaming-related features as well. This includes a next-gen light reflection system that allows for global illumination with ray tracing, the ability to game at 240 FPS, and upscaling for up to 8K resolution.

When the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 launches, one of the first devices it will likely appear in is Samsung’s Galaxy S24, which should launch in Q1 2024. As this chip is Qualcomm’s flagship, it should also find its way into many of the premium handsets that release next year.