2026 is the year we expect to see the AI PC crossover - AMD head tells us why this will be the year of the AI PC, and why mini PCs are "really having a moment"

Date:
Tue, 13 Jan 2026 18:20:00 +0000

Description:
Exclusive: AMD head says 2026 will be a big year for AI PCs - but mini PCs will continue to go from strength to strength.

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With AI PC s continuing to grow in popularity, AMD has said this is the year it expects the technology to become mainstream.

Speaking to TechRadar Pro at the recent CES 2026 , Jason Banta, Corporate
Vice President and General Manager, Client OEM at AMD, told us 2026 would be
a significant year for adoption of AI-enabled devices.

"2026 is the year we expect to see the AI PC crossover, he said, we're expecting more AI PCs to be sold than non-AI PCs. "Crossover point" for AI
PCs

Having this crossover point this year, we think, is important, Banta added, thats not just people saying an AI PC is what I expect to buy - but (for developers) that also it makes sense to adopt these capabilities and infuse them into your workflows and applications because theres such a large base of who you can address.

Asked if mini PCs can be used for users to pave the way to AI devices, Banta agreed, noting, mini PC (adoption) is growing faster than a lot of people expected.

I think it is an important stepping stone - AI PC has been a combination of hardware and experiences in a horse race between each other, he added.

Mini PC is growing faster than a lot of people expected, he said, mini PCs
are really having a moment, people are seeing the advantages of having them. Previously, you thought, OK, a big giant desktop - I get a lot of
performance, a notebook - I have to make these trade-offs, but a mini PC,
it's a little closer to the notebook, but now you're seeing great performance out of notebooks, great performance out of desktops - and the mini PC is really solving a lot of needs, of having that capability, just sitting on
your desk. (Image credit: AMD)

Banta notes that when AMD started its AI PC journey in 2023 with the 7000 series mobile, the hardware and neural processing was all there, but the experiences needed to be improved.

Since then, he says, the AI experiences and tools have improved hugely, particularly from Microsoft Copilot, and as adoption increases, as well as third party developers getting involved, meaning interest and adoption has soared.

"Experiences breed adoption - but adoption also breeds experiences, he said, adding that this change is being recognized by developers, who are obviously keen to build for the most popular platforms.

What were seeing right now is that everything is starting to come together in a much more cohesive way, he says, referencing not only to AI PCs, but local LLMs, neural processing, and the use of GPUs for AI.

We're getting to a point in the adoption curve where what I think you're
going to see in 2026 is a lot of creative developers are going to change the world.

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/2026-is-the-year-we-expect-to-see-the-ai-pc-cros sover-amd-head-tells-us-why-this-will-be-the-year-of-the-ai-pc-and-why-mini-pc s-are-really-having-a-moment


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