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Writer's pictureHoward Rabb

What is an NPU and When Will We Start Seeing Them in PCs

You can't swing a dead cat(1) without hitting another story about AI. Whether it's Open AI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Co-Pilot (which at present is just a dumber version of ChatGPT) or a private model, the topic on any tech person's lips right now is all about AI.


AI workloads are very power and compute intensive and as a result we're starting to see new types of processors designed specifically to handle these tasks. These processors are called NPUs. The new line up of Microsoft Surface PCs will be some of the first devices to employ these new NPUs.


Microsoft's Co-Pilot enabled Surface Pro and Surface Laptop


What is an NPU?


An NPU, or Neural Processing Unit, is a specialized microprocessor designed to accelerate machine learning tasks. Unlike traditional CPUs and GPUs, NPUs are optimized for neural network computations, making them significantly more efficient for AI-related workloads. This means faster processing times for tasks such as image recognition, natural language processing, and data analysis.


The first generations of these NPUs are hitting shelves now, and we'll start seeing more of them in the coming months as the likes of Dell and Lenovo release their lineup of NPU powered workstations


Intel's Meteor Lake NPU Architecture
Intel's Meteor Lake CPU architecture will include an NPU


Disadvantages for Machines Without NPUs

Businesses that do not adopt NPUs may find themselves at a significant disadvantage. Machines without NPUs will struggle with the increased computational demands of advanced AI applications. This can result in slower processing times, less accurate data analysis, and an inability to fully leverage AI for competitive advantage. In essence, the absence of NPUs could lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities in an increasingly AI-driven world.


While in a practical term these workloads are not really here today, nor are the relevant NPUs, businesses should be cautious about planning any hardware refreshes. If your business is in the middle of a refresh right now, you may find yourself cycling certain devices out for some users sooner than expected. We're telling our customers right now to plan for a possible early turnover of hardware being purchased this year due to the rapid changes we're expecting in both hardware and the software available.


(1) - No cat's were harmed in the writing of this article.


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