HP Inc. today debuted a new laptop, the OmniBook Ultra, that features a central processing unit optimized for artificial intelligence applications.

The company is touting the device as the world’s highest-performance AI personal computer. It will make the OmniBook Ultra available alongside two new all-in-one desktops, the OmniStudio X 27 and OmniStudio X 27 31.5, that likewise include silicon optimized for AI models. HP will offer customers the option to configure the two machines with a standalone Nvidia Corp. graphics card.

AMD-powered AI laptop

The OmniBook Ultra is a 14-inch laptop with a resolution of 2,400 pixels by 1,400 pixels, a 9-megapixel webcam and four speakers. HP’s engineers placed those components in a case that is made using up to 90% recycled metals. Consumers can expect a battery life of up to 21 hours.

Under the hood, the OmniBook Ultra is powered by Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s Ryzen AI 300 system-on-chip. The processor comprises three main components: a central processing unit, a graphics card and a neural processing unit. The latter module is specifically optimized to run AI-powered programs.

The Ryzen AI 300’s CPU is based on AMD’s latest Zen 5 core design. Compared with the previous design, Zen 5 is better at implementing two performance optimization methods known as data prefetching and branch prediction. Those methods allow a CPU to perform some of the calculations a program must carry out to complete a task ahead of time rather than when they’re needed, which speeds up processing.

The Ryzen AI 300’s NPU also features enhancements. It comprises 32 AI-optimized tiles, or circuit collections, 12 more than AMD’s previous-generation NPU. It also features a large amount of onboard memory.

HP says that the Ryzen AI 300 enables the OmniBook Ultra to provide up to 55 TOPs of performance for AI programs. One TOP equals a trillion calculations per second. One of the application that will benefit from that performance is HP AI Companion, a program designed to help users improve the performance of their OmniBook Ultra laptops and troubleshoot technical issues.

Down the road, HP plans to release a free software update that will add support for Microsoft Corp.’s Copilot+ PC specification. Introduced earlier this year, the specification provides access to a range of AI-powered text and image generation features. It also includes a dedicated app for Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant, which is powered by a large language model from OpenAI.

New desktops

HP plans to launch the OmniBook Ultra in August alongside the OmniStudio X 27 and OmniStudio X 31.5, its latest all-in-one desktops. The machines feature 27- and 31.5-inch displays, respectively. Both computers’ screens offer a 4K resolution, which corresponds to 3,840 pixels by 2,160 pixels.

HP will offer customers several processor options. The top-end configurations will ship with a CPU from Intel Corp.’s Core Ultra 7 processor lineup and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics processing unit.

HP is also equipping the desktops with a number of AI features. According to the company, those features will generate reminders related to screen time and display distance in order to reduce eye fatigue for consumers. Additionally, a built-in presence sensing capability can lock the display when the user walks away to reduce the risk of unauthorized data access.

Photo: HP