Intel says dozens of PC makers are using its new AI-enabled chip

Harvey Norman Holdings

14/12/2023 15:00

By Stephen Nellis
       Dec 14 (Reuters) - Intel  INTC.O  on Thursday said that
dozens of personal computer makers are using its newest chip, as
the company and its customers try to entice consumers to upgrade
their machines for a new era of chatbots.
    At a press event in New York, Intel said the new offering
will be available in laptops from Dell Technologies  DELL.N ,
Microsoft  MSFT.O , Lenovo Group  0992.HK  and others that will
go on sale on Thursday at Best Buy  BBY.N  in the U.S. and other
global retailers including China's JD.com  9618.HK  and
Australia's Harvey Norman  HVN.AX . 
    Intel's central processor units (CPUs) have long served as
the brains of most personal computers. But the new chip that
went by the code name "Meteor Lake" is Intel's first that will
also contain what is called an neural processing unit (NPU), a
section of the chip dedicated to handling artificial
intelligence tasks. 
    Apple  AAPL.O , Qualcomm  QCOM.O  and other smartphone chip
makers have included NPUs in their mobile phone offerings for at
least five years.
    Intel's pitch to consumers and businesses comes as it is
fighting its way out of a post-pandemic PC slump where buyers
who upgraded to work from home in 2020 have seen little reason
to buy new equipment.
    The Silicon Valley company is hoping that a new wave of AI
applications provides some incentive to buy what Intel has
dubbed the "AI PC," a category it expects will comprise 80% of
PCs sold within the next four years.
    During a demonstration of the new chip in September, the
company showed some examples of AI work that it hoped would spur
interest, such as transcribing voice notes without having to
send data to a third-party cloud provider or generating a song
in the style of pop star Taylor Swift.

 (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Jamie
Freed)
 ((Stephen.Nellis@thomsonreuters.com;))