Dell has revealed that consumers are not buying PCs for AI features right now. in one interview with pc gamer Ahead of CES, Dell has made it clear that its 2026 products aren’t entirely about being AI-first, and that it’s moving beyond “all about” AI PCs.
“We’re very focused on delivering the AI capabilities of a device – virtually everything we’re announcing has an NPU – but what we’ve learned over the course of this year, especially from a consumer perspective, is that people aren’t making purchases based on AI,” admits Kevin Terwilliger, Dell’s product chief. pc gamer Interview. “In fact I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome.”
It’s a surprisingly honest admission from one of Microsoft’s biggest PC partners, especially when the software giant is pushing AI features in Windows and trying to convince consumers to buy CoPilot Plus PCs. Dell was one of Microsoft’s partners for an initial CoPilot Plus PC launch in 2024, adding Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips to its popular XPS 13 and Inspiron line of laptops. Dell also added Qualcomm’s cloud AI chips to its high-end laptops last year, boosting AI performance for local models.
But most of the benefits in the CoPilot Plus PC come from the superior battery life and performance of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips, rather than AI features alone.
Microsoft also struggled to launch its Recall flagship AI feature for Copilot Plus PCs. The controversial feature eventually launched nearly a year after it was originally scheduled, as the feature was delayed after concerns were raised by security experts.
