Qualcomm (QCOM) Surges to Record on Report of AI Chip Supply Deal with TikTok Parent ByteDance

Qualcomm (QCOM) shares surged as much as 8% to an all-time high on May 26, 2026, after Bloomberg reported the semiconductor company had secured a major artificial intelligence chip supply agreement with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. The stock closed the session up 4.93% at $249.90. ByteDance plans to purchase millions of Qualcomm AI ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) processors to support its AI agent software infrastructure, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal will also help the Beijing-based company transition its self-designed chips to mass production. Neither company has commented on the reported agreement. The partnership marks a strategic breakthrough for Qualcomm as it diversifies beyond its core smartphone processor business into the competitive data-center AI chip market, currently dominated by Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO). ByteDance, which competes with OpenAI and Google through its popular Doubao chatbot in China, raised its 2026 AI infrastructure budget by 25% to 200 billion yuan earlier this year. The chip shipments are expected to comply with U.S. export restrictions on AI technology to China.