June 1 (Reuters) – Nvidia has turned the spotlight on artificially intelligent PCs after the company’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, launched a microprocessor that puts AI capabilities directly into laptops and desktop computers, amid uncertain demand for such devices.
HP said last week that AI-optimized computers helped lift its quarterly earnings, while Dell said in January that “the AI boom had not generated the kind of demand it had expected.”
What does “PC IA” mean?
Manufacturers say AI-enabled PCs can process data faster than traditional PCs and can handle a greater volume of AI tasks directly on the device, including chatbots.
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According to the manufacturers, these machines do not need to rely on data centers where most AI applications, such as ChatGPT and Claude, run, and some variants can also support AI model training – a compute-intensive task typically performed on servers.
The emergence of AI agents, or software that can perform computer tasks on its own with minimal human intervention, is also bringing new attention to AI PCs.
Nvidia’s RTX Spark chip, revealed ahead of the Computex conference in Taiwan, is part of what the company called an effort with Microsoft to ‘reinvent the PC’ for the AI era. The new processor was developed in collaboration with MediaTek to run agents locally rather than relying on cloud computing.
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PC makers hope these AI capabilities will help attract buyers as more people lean on generative AI for everything from sending emails to planning vacations.
HP reported in late May that AI PCs accounted for 44% of its PC sales in the second quarter, up from more than 35% in the previous quarter, helping it beat market forecasts for revenue and profit.
But the adoption of AI-enabled PCs could be hampered by tight supplies of memory chips and rising costs.
Market research firm IDC expects global PC sales to decline in 2026 due to memory chip shortages, rising component prices and supply constraints.
What technology is used?
AI PCs come with specialized processors called neural processing units that handle most of the AI workloads on the device.
These NPUs work in conjunction with central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processors (GPUs) to manage complex tasks, deliver improved processing speeds, and enable the workflow of applications like AI assistants.
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Are there any concerns?
When announced in 2024, Microsoft’s ‘recall’ feature raised some privacy concerns. The feature tracked every action taken on the laptop, from voice conversations to web browsing, and created a detailed history stored on the device. The user could then search this repository and examine previous actions.
After a strong backlash regarding privacy and security, Microsoft delayed the release of the feature and instead made it available through a preview mode for certain users after adding stronger protections. The optional feature is available on newer Copilot+ PCs.
On the other hand, some experts say that managing more AI-related tasks directly on the device offers greater privacy, eliminating the need to use personal data to train large AI models.
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