Nvidia has thrust AI-powered personal computers into the spotlight after chief executive Jensen Huang unveiled a new chip that embeds artificial intelligence capabilities directly into laptops and desktops, even as demand for such devices remains uneven.
HP reported last week that sales of AI-optimised computers boosted its quarterly performance, while Dell stated in January that the AI boom had failed to generate the level of demand it had expected.
Here's everything we know about AI PCs:
Manufacturers say AI PCs can process data more swiftly than traditional ones and can handle a greater volume of AI tasks directly on the device, including chatbots.
They do not have to rely on cloud data centres powering most AI applications like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude, and some variants can also support training AI models, a compute-intensive task typically done on servers, locally on the device.
The rise of AI agents, or software that can perform tasks on the computer by itself with minimal human intervention, is also drawing fresh attention to AI PCs.
Nvidia's RTX Spark, unveiled 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 chip has been developed in collaboration with MediaTek to run agents locally rather than relying on cloud computing.
PC makers are hoping such powerful AI features will help draw in buyers as more people lean on generative AI for everything from sending emails to planning holidays.
HP said late in May that AI PCs made up 44% of its PC shipments in the second quarter, up from more than 35% in the previous quarter, helping it top revenue and profit estimates. However, AI PC adoption could be hampered by the memory chip supply squeeze and rising costs.
Market research firm IDC expects total global PC shipments to decline in 2026 due to memory shortages, rising component prices, and supply constraints, even as higher average selling prices lift market value.
AI PCs come with specialised processors called neural processing units that handle the majority of on-device AI workloads.
These NPUs work in tandem with central processing units and graphics processors to manage complex tasks, deliver enhanced processing speeds, and power applications such as AI assistants.
Nvidia said RTX Spark laptops and compact desktops are expected this autumn from ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, and MSI, with Acer and Gigabyte to follow.
Several of these brands, along with Microsoft and Qualcomm, already offer Copilot+ PCs, which require processors designed specifically to handle AI tasks on the device.
When announced in 2024, Microsoft's "recall" feature had raised some privacy concerns. The feature would track every action performed on the laptop from voice chats to web browsing, and create a detailed history stored on the device. The user can then search this repository and go through past actions.
Following a strong backlash over 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 in the newer Copilot+ PCs.
On the other hand, some experts maintain that managing more AI-related tasks directly on the device offers greater privacy by eliminating the need to use personal data to train large AI models.
