Nvidia and Microsoft plan to 'reinvent the PC' with new AI chips unveiled at Computex 2026

Nvidia unveiled a powerful new laptop chip for Windows machines on June 1, staking a claim in the market for next-generation consumer PCs built around artificial intelligence. Speaking at Taiwan's Computex conference, chief executive Jensen Huang said the company, together with Microsoft, intends to 'reinvent the PC.'

Huang connected the technology to one of the hottest trends in computing: AI agents. He suggested that agents which run continuously in the background to boost productivity might run perfectly well on local hardware, where they would be cheaper than in the cloud.

Look how beautiful it is — this agent could run 24/7, meter free.

A move beyond the data centre

For years, Nvidia's extraordinary run has been tied to the data centre. The announcement marks a deliberate push into the PC market — and Wall Street took notice. News of Nvidia's plan to build systems-on-chips for PCs sent shares of rival chipmakers downward.

The strategy reflects a broader industry bet that inference — running AI models rather than training them — will increasingly happen close to the user. Local agents promise lower latency, better privacy, and freedom from per-token cloud costs.

The agent era arrives on the desktop

The chip launch arrived the same week Microsoft used its Build 2026 conference to outline how it plans to bring agentic AI deeper into everyday computing, including tools that can manage routine tasks across applications and workflows.

Together, the announcements suggest the personal computer is being re-imagined as a host for autonomous software — a shift that raises fresh questions about safety, permissions, and how businesses retain control over agents operating inside sensitive environments.