Nvidia Launches RTX Spark Chip to Bring Advanced AI to Personal Computers
Nvidia’s New RTX Spark Chip and the Future of AI-Powered Personal Computing
By Max A. Cherney and Wen-Yee Lee
Introduction of the RTX Spark Chip
TAIPEI, June 1 (Reuters) - Nvidia on Monday unveiled a new chip that puts artificial intelligence capabilities directly into laptops and desktop computers, pitting it against the likes of Advanced Micro Devices, Intel and Apple.
CEO Jensen Huang, who is in Taiwan for the Computex conference, said the RTX Spark PC chip is part of Nvidia's effort with Microsoft to "reinvent the PC" for the AI era after three years of collaboration between the companies.
Industry Partnerships and Launch Timeline
The chip, developed with Taiwan's MediaTek, will debut this fall in laptops and compact desktops from Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, Microsoft Surface and MSI, with models from Acer and GIGABYTE to follow.
Impact on AI Engagement and Market Strategy
Industry experts said the processor would overhaul engagement with AI as it is designed to run autonomous AI agents locally rather than relying solely on cloud computing.
After dominating chips that train AI models, Nvidia is now pushing to capture an expected surge in demand for inference processors, chips that power AI responses to user queries and the agents built to handle routine tasks.
By targeting PCs, Nvidia is betting on its scale and AI expertise to prise open a large new market when deepening competition has worried investors.
Market Reception and Competitive Landscape
Mixed Reception for AI PCs
Reception for AI PCs has been mixed so far. HP reported last week the devices helped prop up quarterly sales, but Dell said earlier this year that demand had fallen short of initial expectations. Qualcomm, looking to capitalize on AI demand, has also been offering AI PCs with Microsoft.
Expert Opinions on the RTX Spark
"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," said Neil Shah, Counterpoint Research co-founder.
"This is going to be the 'RTX Spark' moment for the personal computing segment like how iPhone, ChatGPT or DeepSeek have been."
Stock Market Impact
Nvidia shares jumped 4%, while AMD, Intel and Qualcomm were down between 4.9% and 8.5%. Apple dipped 0.8% and Microsoft was up 2.7%, also buoyed by a rebound in software stocks. HP and Dell were both up more than 7% each, while shares of Lenovo closed more than 5% higher in Hong Kong.
Huang, who devoted much of his keynote on Monday to the company's PC and CPU push, said early adopters of its Vera central processor include OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX.
Moving Towards Fully Autonomous Agents
Computex Conference Highlights
MOVING TOWARDS FULLY AUTONOMOUS AGENTS
Dressed in his signature black leather jacket, Huang was speaking ahead of the Computex trade show, which runs June 2 to 5 and has drawn leaders from some of the world's largest technology companies.
Industry Perspectives on Agentic AI
Nvidia's highlight on AI agents running locally on PC hardware echoed comments laid out by Qualcomm's CEO Cristiano Amon, who also spoke ahead of Computex and framed 2026 as the turning point for agentic AI.
The Year of Agents
"Two years ago we talked about how AI will change the human computer interface, and as a consequence will change the architecture of all of our personal computing devices. And that is starting to become a reality in 2026. That’s why we call 2026 the year of agents,” he said, adding the industry is moving past AI as a simple prompt-answering tool toward fully autonomous agents.
Amon said the shift to agentic AI makes local edge computing unavoidable, because today’s device architectures were not built for always-on, autonomous operation.
"All of these devices today, they have been built for actions initiated by the user, not by the agents,” he said.
Nvidia’s Vera CPU and Market Expansion
During an earnings call in May, Huang said Nvidia's new Vera central processors give it access to a new $200 billion market.
"This (Vera CPU) is going to be our new major growth driver," said Huang during a lengthy speech outlining Nvidia's latest AI products and highlighting the island's central role in the global technology industry.
AI’s Impact on Employment
Huang dismissed as "complete nonsense" concerns that AI would reduce demand for software engineers, arguing instead that the technology would drive hiring by making workers more productive.
"This is the promise of AI. 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."
Nvidia’s Commitment to Taiwan and Global Influence
Huang, who was born in Taiwan's southern city of Tainan, announced plans last week to invest around $150 billion a year in Taiwan, describing it as the epicentre of the AI revolution.
The speech at the Taipei Music Hall comes around two weeks after he accompanied U.S. President Donald Trump on a visit to Beijing, part of a high-powered corporate delegation, to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Reporting Credits
(Reporting by Max A. Cherney and Wen-Yee Lee in Taipei, additional reporting by Liam Mo in Beijing, Aditya Soni and Anhata Rooprai in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree, Sonali Paul, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sriraj Kalluvila)
