As everyone expected, you couldn’t walk past a single booth or talk to anyone at this year’s CES show without the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) being brought up. It was really AI everywhere.
The artificial intelligence focus was particularly evident in the companies that make PCs and the chips and software that power them. AI computers and Microsoft’s Copilot+ computers were a big part of the news at this year’s shows, and for good reason. Following their introduction in 2024, the category has quickly matured into the mainstream, with a huge range of new consumer and business-focused laptops unveiled at the show. Many of these new computers were based on an impressive array of new processors from Intel, AMD, Qualcomm and Nvidia that promise to bring a new set of capabilities to our work devices.
HP, for example, unveiled a new high-end gaming laptop called the Omen Max 16, which offers a choice of a new Intel Core Ultra 9 or AMD Ryzen AI 9 processor, as well as the latest GPUs Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 50 series. . The combination delivers the fastest gaming performance the company has ever offered, while also enabling AI acceleration for creative applications.
In a sign of how CES has evolved into a technology showcase for business as much as it is for consumer devices, some of HP’s most interesting new laptops were focused on business users. Most impressive is the company’s new ZBook Ultra G1a portable workstation, which is based on AMD’s new Ryzen AI Max Pro chip. While it’s clearly not for everyone, the Zbook Ultra G1a is a powerhouse expected to outperform even the latest Macbook Pros equipped with the Apple M4 chip in advanced graphics applications such as 3D rendering. It also offers a stunningly beautiful OLED display with built-in blue light reduction and the fastest neural processing unit (NPU) for accelerating AI workloads currently available. HP also took advantage of Intel’s introduction of their Core Ultra Series 2 processors to launch their HP EliteBook X G1i line.
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Lenovo’s splashiest new PC is their new ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 laptop with an impressive swivel display that expands the normal 14” screen to a 16.7” one that offers 50% more screen real estate (see our review of Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 at CES 2025 for more). Lenovo also debuted the Yoga Slim 9i, also powered by Intel’s latest Core Ultra Series 2 processors, which Lenovo claims is the first to have an under-display camera (as some smartphones now offer). This allows the laptop screen to extend to the edge of the top panel, creating a borderless effect and an industry-first 98% screen-to-body ratio.
On the portable gaming front, Lenovo used AMD’s next-gen Z2 chip in their new Legion Go S gaming rig. Interestingly, it’s available in both a version running Windows and a version running SteamOS – the first to be licensed to do so.
In Dell’s case, the company generated almost as much news for its new Apple-like product naming architecture unveiled at the show as its new products. In an effort to simplify its product naming — an exercise HP also went through recently — Dell is moving away from sub-brands like XPS, Inspiron and others to a simple Dell, Dell Pro and Dell Pro Max lineup with two additional performance levels (Plus and Premium) within each category. While it will take some getting used to for longtime Dell fans, there is logic behind the move that should pay off in the long run.
One of the first products with the new moniker is the Dell Pro 13 Premium, which includes the latest AI-capable Intel processors and weighs just 2.3 pounds. Another interesting note from Dell is that the company announced that they will be offering a full range of AMD Ryzen AI Pro-equipped laptops for business buyers, in addition to the Intel options. As a longtime Intel-only company when it came to business laptops, the move generated an impressive amount of buzz. In reality, though, it just reflects the growing influence of AMD chips in the business world.
Speaking of business – or at least small business buyers – Samsung also announced their new Galaxy Book 5 notebook and Galaxy Book 5 360 convertible laptops, the company’s first to offer dedicated AI acceleration. Both of Samsung’s new laptops feature the company’s impressive OLED display technology and are powered by the new commercial version of Intel’s Core Ultra chips.
Although aimed at software developers and AI model designers rather than regular consumers, one of the most surprising PC launches at CES was the Nvidia Project Digits mini desktop computer. Featuring a powerful GPU based on the company’s Blackwell architecture, as well as an Arm CPU designed by Mediatek, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called Project Digits (the official name is still TBD) a personal supercomputer. Before you get too excited, though, the Project Digits system only runs a special version of the Linux operating system (and can’t run Windows), doesn’t run games, and starts at $3,000. Still, it offers an intriguing look at where the PC market (and Nvidia) could be headed.
On a much more sensible front, Qualcomm also introduced a new version of their Snapdragon X series of wing-powered processors that found its way into PCs from Dell, HP and Lenovo among others. The new chip is bringing the cost of Copilot+ PCs down to the usual $799 and below the price range by reducing the number of CPU cores to 8 (from 10), but it still retains the same powerful Neural Processing Unit (NPU) as the chips the previous one. . This means it will continue to deliver the same level of AI performance in the new set of PC applications that are starting to use the NPU.
To be clear, while there are some good examples of applications using the NPU to run AI applications directly on the PC — Microsoft’s Copilot features, Adobe’s suite of creative apps, video conferencing tools like Zoom and Teams — we’re still waiting for a full range of AI PC applications. But what’s great about all the latest capabilities in these AI computers is that they’re first and foremost computers that are much better than previous generations. All of them offer significantly faster performance and great battery life, whether you want or need the AI capabilities right now.
Considering that most people keep their computers for about 4 to 5 years, it just makes sense to get something that offers these capabilities built into your next computer so that you’re future-proofed. Plus, based on some of the amazing behind-closed-doors previews I saw at CES of AI applications coming later this year, you won’t have long to wait.
USA TODAY columnist Bob O’Donnell is the president and chief analyst of theTECHNOLOGY researcha consulting and market research firm. You can follow him on Twitter@bobodtech.
