‘We need to make sure that all of our portfolio takes advantage of AI at the edge, and that we’re able to integrate and to run large language models locally, so customers don’t need to upload all of their information to the cloud,’ HP CEO Enrique Lores during remarks opening HP Amplify 2025.
At HP Inc.’s Amplify event that kicked off Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn., the company announced AI PCs that it says give users and businesses dozens of reasons to upgrade their devices, with improvements to power and efficiency as well as the ability to run large language models locally for increased security.
HP CEO Enrique Lores said the company brought a full lineup of PCs to the show and focused on making AI mainstream in the PC category.
“We need to make sure that all of our portfolio takes advantage of AI at the edge, and that we’re able to integrate and to run large language models locally, so customers don’t need to upload all of their information to the cloud. They don’t need to wait for the system to respond because of the latency and they can manage and use all their private information to take advantage of the models.”
[RELATED: HP Inc. Unleashes New AI PCs At CES 2025, Wins Three Innovation Awards]
From the vendors that make them to the channel that sells them, the entirety of the PC market is banking on the aging installed base and Microsoft’s Windows 10 end of support to fuel a surge in PC sales this year.
Harry Zarek, president of HP partner Compugen – No. 60 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 based in Richmond Hill, Ontario – told CRN he sees a massive opportunity for HP’s AI machines inside the modern office.
“We’re very optimistic about the advent of the AI PC because we believe it will demonstrate a very different experience the people who have three- and four-year-old PCs and are doing a lot of video calling, Teams or Zoom or Webex. Video and voice and graphics, all of that, that whole experience, we expect to change dramatically.”
Many customers bought PCs before they were capable of meeting the demands that video and audio streaming would eventually require, but the new generation not only meets those needs, it can exceed them with advances that give users the ability to edit the appearance of live streams.
“People will be desirous of getting technology that has really been designed for collaboration, because if you bought a PC at the pandemic these machines were not designed to run high quality video, live video, live streaming and doing a bunch of other things,” he told CRN.
Here are five of the new or next generation of PC models introduced at HP Amplify:
HP EliteDesk 8 Series
HP EliteDesk is a Microsoft Windows Copilot+ PC that offers a 50 trillion operations per second (TOPS) neural processing unit (NPU), as well as HP’s AI Companion user experience. The previous generation of this device was the Elite Mini. Thanks to the more powerful NPU, the EliteDesk has 90 percent faster image generation capabilities over previous models when using the generative software application Amuse AI.
HP says this is the world’s first business desktop PC portfolio that can protect against quantum computer hacks. The device also uses less power than previous models and has internal power components, so it comes with a single cord, rather than a power brick
The OmniBook Series
The newest generation of this family of laptops comes in a more compact 14-inch model, with a flip design that turns it into a tablet, or a larger 17.3-inch clamshell design for more powerful compute. The devices inside this notebook portfolio come with either Intel Core Ultra or AMD Ryzen processors.
The OmniBook 3, OmniBook 5 and OmniBook 7 get better as the number rises, but the best performance is saved for the OmniBook X and the OmniBook Ultra.
The OmniBook X flip has an NPU that delivers 50 TOPS, with 45 percent better performance when running multiple applications, and up to 48 percent faster content creation.
HP Z2 Tower G1i
This powerhouse of a workstation desktop is built for knowledge workers whose tasks demand the most from GPUs to keep up with the growing complexity of customer demands in the area of machine learning and 3D rendering.
HP said the chassis is designed to support 600-watt, triple-wide graphics for 88 percent more GPU power and better cooling. This means faster rendering in programs such as Autodesk Revit, which gains a 15 percent speed boost with the machine, HP said.
Overall, the device performs 30 percent better than previous generations, HP said, while delivering a 67 percent increase in CPU power.
HP ZBook Fury G1i
Designed to accelerate AI development with the ability to locally run and inference LLMs, capture and create 3D models, this new workstation laptop comes in a 16-inch and 18-inch model. The 18-inch version gives users 30 percent more screen real estate but can still fit into a 17-inch back pack, HP said.
To keep its insides cool the machine – which runs Nvidia’s latest line of RTX processors –comes with an industry-first three-fan design, a 200-watt TDS, meaning it can cool a machine that churns through up to 200 watts of electricity.
HP EliteBook 8 G1 Series
HP redesigned this model inside and out to give users a longer lifecycle with a chassis that allows parts to be repaired or replaced for upgrade, in minutes. HP said this includes the battery, fan, SSD, and computer memory, as well as the keyboard, wireless connection and mobile broadband cards.
It comes with NPU options up to 50 TOPS, that HP says delivers up to 224 percent improvement in power efficiency and up to 43 times faster AI image generation versus previous non-NPU models.
