Qualcomm launched a $100 million fund to invest in artificial intelligence (AI)-focused start-ups, and named the first recipient of its largesse.

In a statement, the silicon company said it will look to work with “start-ups that share the vision of on-device AI becoming more powerful and widespread, with an emphasis on those developing new technology for autonomous cars, robotics and machine learning platforms”.

The company added it has set out to make on-device AI ubiquitous by inventing, developing, commercialising and “importantly, investing” in the technology. As AI shifts toward the wireless edge, combining on-device capabilities with edge cloud, the industry is starting to see the potential of 5G, it said.

Qualcomm Ventures participated in a funding round for AnyVision, which it described as a “world-leading face, body and object recognition start-up”. It said the use of on-device AI minimises the spread of data, mitigating privacy concerns.

Quinn Li, SVP at Qualcomm Ventures, said: “Through the AI fund, we’ll continue to seek out start-ups with a focus on autonomous cars, robotics, computer vision and IoT, who are developing new AI applications, advanced machine learning technologies and AI/ML platforms across different verticals.”

The San Diego-based company has already made investments in AI companies including Cruise Automation, Brain Corp, Clarifai, Prospera, SenseTime and Retail Next.