Chip and semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm, Inc. QCOM, the second-largest chip and semiconductor manufacturer, announced Wednesday that they are planning on acquiring the chip startup Nuvia, founded by ex-Apple engineers, for $1.4 billion.

Qualcomm plans to utilize Nuvia's technology in its flagship smartphones, laptops, driving assistance software, and networking infrastructure. 

Qualcomm has made an effort in the last year to make the 5G networking market a priority and said Nuvia's expertise in designing CPUs will help boost its chip performance and power efficiency.

We are excited to be joining @Qualcomm and see it as an opportunity to deliver on our mission to reimagine silicon design and create a new class of high-performance compute platforms together. #siliconreimagined https://t.co/1ug5LNxLPS

— Nuvia Inc. (@nuvia_inc) January 13, 2021

In the last year, Qualcomm stock has risen nearly 70% amid demand for fast 5G smartphones.

The deal still must go through federal regulatory approval in the United States.

Nuvia originally aimed to create CPUs for computer servers to challenge the control of market leaders such as Intel INTC and Advanced Micro Devices AMD.

The acquisition by Qualcomm serves to boost the company's 5G technology and make it more desirable for cellphone manufacturers.