After the first limited AI PCs were released a few weeks ago, the AI PC market has moved rapidly.
Microsoft’s Snapdragon X Elite and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite launched the second generation. Although these products were impressive they did not cater to three key markets – workstation-class machines for creators or gaming PCs. These products were great for us, but not for those who create and play the most powerful video games, or software and hardware engineers building AI solutions.
With one notable exception. AMD announced that it would close the gap by releasing a new class of PCs with the graphics and processor power demanded by creatives.
They are powerful machines that have discrete graphics cards. These machines can meet the demands of users who want the best performance, but also the AI benefits without draining the battery. They are waiting on Microsoft to enable desktop PCs. Microsoft’s unforgivable decision to not support them is more of a problem than the hardware.
We’ll discuss AMD’s plan to close these gaps. We’ll end with my Product of the week, the Asus ProArt Studiobook 16 which caught my eye at the AMD Event.
Microsoft’s AI PC Copilot+ Launch is Flawed
When a new platform is introduced, such as AI today, the first problem is that there are not enough applications.
Microsoft launched its AI PC with two new applications, Recall and Cocreator. Microsoft should’ve focused on developers first. As Steve Ballmer once said, “Developers, developers, developers.”
Microsoft’s first product, however, was aimed at users and not developers. Microsoft was ignoring developers, by not focusing on workstation-class notebooks that have GPUs or desktops. For those of us who are PC professionals, desktops have more power.
Not only did this reduce the capabilities of those building for AI, but Recall was so poorly presented that even though it kept the data it collected safely on the PC from which it was collected — which is unusual given that Microsoft is one of the leading cloud vendors — people believed it was a security risk, so Microsoft was forced to pull it back.
Even though NPUs are outperforming high-end discrete GPUs, the Copilot+ software for performance PCs is not available. It’s even more incredible that Nvidia GPU technology was used in OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the generative AI Microsoft uses.
AMD to the rescue
AMD’s launch addresses the shortcoming. It’s amazing that the majority of laptops announced with Nvidia graphic cards and an NPU for 50 TOPS have closed the gap Microsoft created.
These are some impressive laptops. The majority of these laptops were powerful but also offered a battery life that lasted all day. They were light, and their long-lasting performance was impressive for the class. Asus’s line was the most impressive, featuring 16-inch displays, some with 4K displays, and others with displays with high color accuracy. These are ideal for gaming or image work.
It’s a pity AMD didn’t add an NPU to a desktop. It would have made them stand out from the crowd. Microsoft only needed to enable desktop GPUs. I can understand the decision. It would have been a very sustainable configuration given that digital assistants are almost always running.
Desktops and workstations do not require battery life but they use a lot of power. An interesting low-power option would be to use an NPU in place of a high performance GPU.
This is an effective strategy, particularly for emerging markets. Instead of focusing on the first-to-market competition, concentrate on areas that they lack and are at a disadvantage in terms of performance. AMD is doing this.
The Silo AI Twist
AMD announced that it would be purchasing a unique company during the event. Silo AIThe largest private AI lab of Europe. Currently, most AI implementations fail and few people are able to successfully deploy AI solutions. Silo AI on the other hand has successfully implemented AI in over 200 clients, and they have 125 highly qualified AI professionals (PhDs) in a market where AI talent is scarce.
AMD gains two key advantages with the Silo AI purchase.
They will be able to successfully help their end users deploy AI in the back office using AMD technology. Second, AMD will receive valuable information on the current technology failures on both desktops and server, which allows AMD to better focus on its development efforts moving forward.
Nvidia may be the current AI king, but being first has its disadvantages. You have no one to follow and you might get off track when you’re blazing your own trail.
AMD is behind Nvidia, but Silo AI can help them see and exploit any mistakes that Nvidia may make. AMD may not be able overtake Nvidia, but it can become the number two player in an industry that is far away from saturation.
AMD won’t benefit at Nvidias expense as a result but will speed up AI adoption in general. This could also benefit Nvidia, as a stronger competitor will help Nvidia to focus.
Wrapping Up
AMD’s upcoming offerings are impressive. They close a critical gap Microsoft created when it focused on users instead of developers.
It should lead to faster app development using AMD, Intel, or Qualcomm NPUs. There are no losers, at least not initially. We all gain from more successful AI deployments as well as a richer ecosystem of applications.
Overall, AMD has made tremendous progress. I’m sure AMD CEO Lisa Su will be incredibly proud of all the hard work that these people did to make it happen.
Overall, a very nice job.
Asus ProArt P16 Laptop
I was in love. Asus ProArt P16. This laptop is incredible. The laptop is only 14.9mm thick, weighs just 1.85kg, and has a gorgeous Lumina 4K screen. The ProArt 16 is also equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4470 and AMD Ryzen AI9 HX 370 processor.
Photo by Author
The picture I took above does not do it justice. While I was not given the final price, I anticipate it to be very affordable considering its performance. The ProArt P16 comes with a full-sized touchscreen. Copilot+ PCSo it is equipped with the most powerful NPU on the market, the XDNA2 one. This is a real AI powerhouse when combined with the Nvidia graphics card.
While Asus targeted this product at animators, photographers, and videographers, it would make for one heck of a gaming laptop — and when we finally get those games with AI non-player characters (NPCs), it’ll have the power to run them where other laptops, even AI PC laptops, won’t.
The Asus ProArt P16AI PC was my Product of the Week. It’s awesome, and it sets the bar high for what a AMD/Nvidia-powered AI PC should look like.
