AMD used its CES 2026 keynote to make a simple promise: AI for everyone.
Chair and CEO Lisa Su opened the show in Las Vegas with that message and a new flagship for AMD’s AI PC push: the Ryzen AI 400 Series processor.
Ryzen AI 400: AMD’s new AI PC anchor
The Ryzen AI 400 Series is AMD’s latest generation of AI‑powered PC chips, building on the Ryzen AI 300 line the company announced in 2024.
AMD says the new processors:
- Deliver 1.3x faster multitasking than competing chips
- Are 1.7x faster for content creation
- Pack 12 CPU cores and 24 threads
Those specs put Ryzen AI 400 firmly in the premium AI laptop and desktop conversation, with enough cores and threads to juggle local AI workloads alongside everyday productivity apps and creative tools.
Ryzen as a brand has been around since 2017, but AMD has been rapidly layering AI capabilities onto the line over the last two years as “AI PC” becomes the industry’s favorite buzzword — and, increasingly, a shipping product category.
250+ AI PC designs and counting
Rahul Tikoo, senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s client business, framed the launch as part of a much larger shift in how PCs are built and used.
Tikoo said AMD has now expanded to more than 250 AI PC platforms, a 2x increase over the last year.
“In the years ahead, AI is going to be a multi-layered fabric that gets woven into every level of computing at the personal layer,” Tikoo said. “Our AI PCs and devices will transform how we work, how we play, how we create and how we connect with each other.”
He argued that AI is already embedded in everyday PC usage:
“You have thousands of interactions with your PC every day. AI is able to understand, learn context, bring automation, provide deep reasoning and personal customization to every individual.”
That’s the backdrop for AMD’s push: local AI acceleration baked into the CPU package, rather than everything running in the cloud.
Gaming gets an upgrade with Ryzen 7 9850X3D
AI PCs weren’t the only story. AMD also announced the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, the latest entry in its gaming‑focused X3D line.
The chip targets gamers who want high frame rates and smooth performance, especially as games add more AI‑driven features and heavier visual effects.
On the graphics side, AMD introduced the latest version of its Redstone ray tracing technology, designed to better simulate the physical behavior of light and enable more realistic visuals without a noticeable hit to performance or speed.
When you can buy it
AMD says PCs containing either the Ryzen AI 300 Series processors or the Ryzen 7 9850X3D will start shipping in the first quarter of 2026.
Ryzen AI 400 is now positioned as AMD’s new flagship AI PC silicon at the top of that stack, as the company tries to turn Su’s CES promise — AI for everyone — into hardware you can actually buy this year.
