January 6, 2026
New chips, old drama
Intel Panther Lake (first Intel 18A node product) makes debut at CES
Intel’s ‘AI PC’ chips land at CES—hype train or Nvidia killer
TLDR: Intel unveiled its first 18A “AI PC” chips, Core Ultra Series 3, shipping in laptops this month. The crowd is split: skeptics call hype, question Windows AI usefulness and Nvidia’s role, and worry about memory limits—promising to wait for real-world reviews before buying.
Intel roared into CES with Core Ultra Series 3—the first laptops built on its new 18A chip tech, designed and made in the U.S. The company’s selling it as an “AI PC” wave: over 200 designs, new X9/X7 models with beefy Arc graphics, up to 16 CPU cores, and claimed 27-hour battery. There’s even a push beyond laptops into robots and smart cities, with edge certifications and big AI acceleration numbers. And yet… the comments section is on fire.
The loudest chorus: is this real or just glossy marketing? DrammBA dropped a mic with “disaster of an op…” while glzone1 asked, “where does that leave nvidia?” and roasted Windows 11’s shaky AI vibe. zapnuk’s skepticism hit hard: “What actually makes it an AI platform?” and the classic consumer pain point—memory limits for real AI tasks. sbinnee’s trust-o-meter? “I lost faith in Intel chips,” citing last year’s Snapdragon X Elite demos as a cautionary tale. Meanwhile, cubefox ignited the node wars, asking how 18A compares to TSMC’s processes.
Jokes flew fast: “AI PC = Any PC with a checkbox,” “50 NPU TOPS? That’s TOPS of PR,” and “Copilot can’t even open Start Menu.” Expect pre-orders Jan 6, global availability Jan 27, and a thousand memes until real reviews land. More specs at Intel.
Key Points
- •Intel launched Intel Core Ultra Series 3 at CES 2026 as the first platform built on the Intel 18A process made in the United States.
- •Series 3 will power over 200 PC designs and is positioned as Intel’s most broadly adopted and globally available AI PC platform.
- •New mobile classes X9 and X7 include integrated Intel Arc graphics; top SKUs offer up to 16 CPU cores, 12 Xe-cores, and 50 NPU TOPS with claimed performance and battery gains.
- •Series 3 includes certified edge processors for embedded and industrial use, with claims of improved AI workload performance (LLM, video analytics, VLA).
- •Consumer laptop pre-orders begin Jan. 6, 2026; global availability starts Jan. 27, 2026; edge systems arrive in Q2 2026.