People aren’t buying PCs because of AI, but that’s not stopping AMD, Intel and Qualcomm talking up AI chips

One of the key trends at CES 2026 was certainly the slew of new PCs it generated, with AMD, Intel and Qualcomm all launching new AI chips amidst a backdrop of uncertain sales and memory shortages, which are set to drive up prices – Asus told me as much during a pre-CES event in late November to preview its upcoming devices.

But despite ever more capable AI chips, it seems that consumers aren’t buying into the dream of the AI PC – yet. Dell used a CES 2026 briefing to admit that it had modified the way it was marketing devices to customers (reported by PC Gamer).

“One thing you’ll notice is the message we delivered around our products was not AI-first,” said Dell’s head of product Kevin Terwilliger,. “So, a bit of a shift from a year ago where we were all about the AI PC.”

During the same event, Dell’s vice chairman Jeff Clarke also said there was currently an “un-met promise of AI, and the expectation of AI driving end user demand.”

But that’s not what chip manufacturers are telling us, with AMD using its announcement at CES to say: “The PC is being redefined by AI, and AMD is leading that transformation,” said Jack Huynh, head of AMD’s Computing and Graphics Group. Here’s CEO Lisa Su on stage talking about AI growth over the coming years:

All the new processors are built around dedicated neural engines (NPUs), making AI performance an expected part of what laptops are capable of rather than an added extra. Qualcomm in particular, has kept the same 80 TOPs (Trillion Operations Per Second) performance in its latest mid-range Snapdragon X2 Plus platform that is in its range-topping Snapdragon X2 Extreme (which is double that of the previous generation).

AMD introduced the Ryzen AI 400 for Copilot+ PCs (capable of up to 60 TOPS) as well as the Ryzen AI Max+ to bring the best performance and graphics to thin-and-light laptops as well as an even racier variant of the Ryzen 7 gaming powerhouse chip. However, the AI focus was shown by a lukewarm response from investors to AMD’s pitch.

Intel introduced the Core Ultra Series 3, with over 200 different PCs already announced as using the new chips. Again, it’s a full range of chips, with the newly-announced Intel Core Ultra X9 and X7 topping out the range with up to 16 cores (capable of up to 50 TOPS).

One thing I think that PC manufacturers – or Microsoft – have not done enough of is to communicate the benefits of AI PC/Copilot+ PCs to potential purchasers. And there’s probably a good reason for that – it’s hard. And the individual benefits are not that compelling. Tasks like audio cleanup, photo noise removal and live captions are great capabilities, but they aren’t enough to sell a PC on.

One benefit of these newer chips that is relevant to people’s needs is battery life. Both Apple’s M Series Mac chips and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon PC chips are partly based on ARM designs – the same as in your phone uses – and that has led to some incredible battery life figures, with even multi-day use starting to become possible. Intel and AMD have had to catch up.

And with all these devices now capable of longer use, I think that’s a much more compelling message for you and me as we upgrade from older laptops. And it’s one that has been downplayed against the AI noise.

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