Nvidia, the $5tn US semiconductor company that dominates the market for AI data centre chips, launched a processor on Sunday designed to put AI agent capabilities directly into personal computers. Chief executive Jensen Huang announced the RTX Spark at the Computex conference in Taipei, describing it as a combination microprocessor and graphics chip that would allow AI agents to navigate PCs autonomously — replacing the mouse and keyboard.
Huang said the chip, developed with help from Taiwan’s MediaTek, would “reinvent the PC” for the AI era after three years of collaboration between Nvidia and Microsoft. The RTX Spark is designed to run AI agents locally on the machine rather than relying on cloud computing, and will be paired with Microsoft’s Windows software.
Computer makers including Dell, Lenovo, Asus and HP will incorporate the chip into laptops and desktops beginning this year, according to Huang, who said Nvidia was reimagining the PC “for the first time in 40 years.”
Neil Shah, a co-founder of Counterpoint Research, compared the announcement to landmark technology moments.
“The RTX Spark looks to transform the traditional app-centric PC to a real useful agentic AI personal computer which will eventually be in every home in coming years as private edge AI agents become pivotal,” Shah said.
The new chip and Nvidia’s Vera central processing unit demonstrate the company’s growing focus on PC and CPU products, markets long dominated by Intel and AMD. The Vera CPU is designed for AI agents and has attracted early adopters including OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX.
Intel announced a competing AI graphics processor, the Xe3P, codenamed Crescent Island, which it said would start shipping later this year. Anil Nanduri, the vice-president of AI products at Intel’s Data Center Group, described it as “purpose-built for this upcoming AI generation of agents.”
Susannah Streeter, the chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said the move marked a bold attempt by Nvidia to extend its dominance beyond data centres.
“The unveiling of the RTX Spark chip reinforces Jensen Huang’s vision of PCs evolving from simple productivity tools into hyperintelligent digital co-workers,” Streeter said. “While strategically significant, investors are likely to view the move as a longer-term growth opportunity rather than an immediate earnings driver. For now, Nvidia’s fortunes still depend overwhelmingly on relentless global demand for AI infrastructure and datacentre computing power.”
Huang also pushed back against concerns that AI will destroy large numbers of jobs, calling the idea “complete nonsense.” He argued the technology would increase demand for software engineers by making workers more productive.
“This is the promise of AI,” Huang said. “The number of engineers, software engineers, is actually increasing. People talk about AI reducing jobs – complete nonsense. It’s causing more software engineers to be hired.”