Michael Dell Says AI PCs Will Be ‘Pretty Standard’ in 2025

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Dell Technologies Inc. is unveiling a new line of personal computers optimized for artificial intelligence tasks, betting that they will help rejuvenate a long-struggling business.

“We're going to be delivering them in volume” this year, Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said in an interview. By next year, “it'll be pretty standard.”

So-called AI PCs contain neural processing units, a kind of chip that is meant to speed up artificial intelligence work like running a chatbot. Those chips will be made by Qualcomm Inc. for the laptops Dell announced Monday during its annual conference. Dell executives said the PCs also include a dedicated key to summon Microsoft Corp.'s AI Copilot service, which uses generative AI — technology that responds to written or verbal prompts from users — to automate business tasks such as summarizing documents and writing memos.

The computer market has seen a historic drop-off in demand over the last two years. Many consumers, businesses and schools purchased laptops in the early months of the pandemic, but haven't yet opted for upgrades. With the proliferation of mainstream chatbots and generative AI tools in the past year, Dell and other computer makers see AI PCs as an opportunity to revitalize demand.

While AI-optimized computers will begin as a “more advanced” product, they'll “flow into the mainstream pretty quickly,” Michael Dell said. “Do you want to buy a PC that is not capable of doing those AI things that you'll want to do in the future? I don't think so.”

Global computer shipments increased in the first quarter for the first time since the end of 2021, industry research firm IDC said in April. “Along with growth in shipments, AI PCs are also expected to carry higher price tags, providing further opportunity for PC and component makers,” wrote Jitesh Ubrani, an analyst at IDC.

Though Dell is known for its PCs, investors have recently focused on the company's server business, which has seen a renaissance due to demand for