AMD’s new Ryzen 8000 laptop CPUs are built for an AI future

From PC World: AMD announced the Ryzen 8040 series of laptop processors at the company’s AI-themed event, reframing what has been a conversation about CPU speed, power, and battery life into one that prioritizes AI.

In January, AMD launched the Ryzen 7000 family, of which the Ryzen 7040 included the first use of what AMD then called its XDNA architecture, powering Ryzen AI. (When rival Intel disclosed its Meteor Lake processor this past summer, Intel began referring to the AI accelerator as an NPU, and the name stuck.)

More than 50 laptop models already ship with Ryzen AI, executives said. Now, it’s on to AMD’s next NPU, Hawk Point, inside the Ryzen 8040. In AMD’s case, the XDNA NPU assists the Zen CPU, with the Radeon RDNA architecture of the GPU powering graphics. But all three logic components work harmoniously, contributing to the greater whole.

“We view AI as the single most transformational technology of the last ten years,” said Dr. Lisa Su, AMD’s chief executive, in kicking off AMD’s “Advancing AI” presentation on Wednesday.

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