You can expect to see RB3-based bots sometime in 2019, with big names like LG and South Korea's Naver on the short list alongside the likes of Anki, JD and OrionStar. Development kits are available now, and a 5G version of RB3 will be available later in the year.

It's too soon to know how well this will work, but Qualcomm has good reason to dive deeper into robotics. Rival chip makers like Intel and NVIDIA already have a head start on supplying robots with AI-powered guts. If Qualcomm didn't step in, it risked ceding ground at a time when it can't depend solely on phones to pad its bottom line.