Qualcomm Wants You to Know That Its New Car Chip Has Multitasking Baked In

Qualcomm showed off its all-in-one Flex SoC (System on a Chip) at CES on Monday and announced plans to bring its efficient computing architecture to cars in the U.S.

(Note: Qualcomm sponsored my trip to CES by providing travel, accommodations, and meals. No other compensation was received and Qualcomm had no editorial input or influence on my content.)

The message Qualcomm is sending out at CES is simple: flexibility. The chipmaker is already an established partner for many automakers behind the scenes, providing infotainment solutions, safety features, and advanced driving systems. The Flex SoC, however, can control both driver assistance and infotainment features, Qualcomm said. It’s supposed to reduce complexity of software and hardware systems for carmakers, and, in turn, reduce costs so that basic advanced driving features can be included as standard. 

As Nilesh Parekh, a senior director for Snapdragon Ride Flex products, explained during a demo ride outside of the W Las Vegas hotel, the Flex SoC is unique because it mixes different use cases on the same chip.

Qualcomm executives said they expect all future cars to have touch and display screens and some basic safety features, even in entry-level models. Already launched in China and on the road, Qualcomm is planning to bring its efficient computing architecture to U.S. cars. 

I went on a demo ride as a passenger in a Lincoln Aviator equipped with Qualcomm tech powering the infotainment system and assisted driving features. While on the highway, I observed how the car could simultaneously play music, display 3D navigation, monitor the driver, and maintain speed and distance while staying centered in the lane.

Parekh said Qualcomm calls having all these applications on one platform “mixed criticality”—especially since some features are safety oriented, while others, like music selection, are clearly not.

Google’s AI assistant is built into Qualcomm’s system, which uses Gemini to answer questions like any AI chatbot but can also help with “local” requests on the car such as pulling up (and playing) certain music or mapping a new route to lunch. Unreal Engine provides screen graphics, including a real-time 3D rendering of the vehicle that shows whether a door is open and which direction the wheels are pointing.

The demo ride I took was only equipped with one camera, a radar unit, and a driver monitoring camera. Considered a mid-tier package, with Level 2 driving only available on the highway, the car required constant attention from the driver. A more premium package has a larger sensor suite to supply more data to Qualcomm’s driver assistance system. 

While the demo was simple, showcasing features many of us use daily on the road, that was kind of the point. More and more cars are going to be expected to offer basic highway assistance and touchscreen graphics with an in-cabin chat bot answering all our questions—and all at the same time.

Gizmodo is on the ground in Las Vegas all week bringing you everything you need to know about the tech unveiled at CES 2026. You can follow our CES live blog here and find all our coverage here.