AI reality check: New NPUs don't matter as much as you'd think

You probably already own an AI PC. In the past few months, Intel and PC makers have beat the drum of the AI PC loudly and in concert with AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm. It's no secret that "AI" is the new "metaverse" -- you know, that thing that everyone was talking up a few years ago -- and executives and investors alike want to use AI to boost sales and stock prices. And it's true that AI does depend on the NPUs found in chips like Intel's Core Ultra, the brand that Intel is positioning as synonymous with on-chip AI. The same goes for AMD's Ryzen 8000 series -- which beat Intel to the desktop with an NPU -- as well as Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite.