Nvidia has announced a new chip for PCs as it moves into the consumer market for devices integrated with AI technology.
“This reinvention of the computer is as big of a deal as the reinvention of the phone into what we now know as the smartphone,” Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang said as he unveiled the RTX Spark chip.
Huang made the announcement on Monday as he delivered a keynote speech ahead of the opening of the Computex technology show in Taipei, Taiwan.
Separately on Sunday, the US tightened its rules on selling Nvidia’s most advanced chips to Chinese firms.
The RTX Spark is “a new superchip… for the era of personal AI agents – offering a new class of computer that moves from tool to teammate,” Nvidia said on its website.
It will be included in a new line of Windows PCs made by Lenovo, HP, Dell, Microsoft Surface, Asus, and MSI. They are due to be available in the autumn, with models from Acer and Gigabyte to follow.
The move marks a challenge to high-profile names in the PC market like Apple and Intel.
Lenovo, HP, Dell and Apple accounted for almost 75% of the world’s PC market in the first three months of this year, according to research firm Gartner.
A ‘paradigm shift’
Nvidia has traditionally focused on creating Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) – specialised chips originally designed to rapidly process computer graphics for video games, but now also widely used to power artificial intelligence systems.
Charlie Dai, vice president and principal analyst at technology research firm Forrester said the announcement showed Nvidia making a “paradigm shift” from “component supplier” to “architecture owner in the PC market”.
“This will directly challenge Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm and raise competitive pressure on performance, efficiency, and AI integration,” he said.
However, Ian Fogg, Research Director at industry analyst firm FDM CCS Insight said the change was “likely to come with a significant price tag” and Nvidia would be targeting “those looking for workstation-class performance”.
Part of the announcement has focused on a partnership with Microsoft to provide what Nvidia claims will be a “robust secure Windows platform” powered by the RTX Spark chip for AI agents – autonomous software programs such as OpenClaw driven by artificial intelligence.
“Our goal is to deliver unmetered intelligence to every home and every desk with Windows,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and head of Microsoft. “RTX Spark marks a real breakthrough towards that vision.”
Semiconductor analyst Dr Ian Cutress said by offering a Windows notebook with Nvidia hardware inside, Nvidia was giving developers, particularly those working with AI, “a reason to stay within its own software and hardware orbit”.
The boom in data centres that power AI has helped Nvidia become the world’s most valuable company, with a stock market valuation of more than $5tn (£3.7tn).
On Sunday, the US moved to close a potential loophole for shipping chips like Nvidia’s Blackwell processors.
Guidance published by Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) clarified that a licence is needed to export of the most advanced AI chips to subsidiaries of Chinese companies based outside China.
Washington has been trying to stop Chinese firms buying the high-end computer chips needed to develop key AI technology.
By BBC News
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