Dell has acknowledged that consumer demand is not being driven by artificial intelligence, despite the company continuing to build AI-ready hardware into every new PC it ships.
The comments were made during Dell’s CES 2026 briefings, where executives reflected on how buyers have responded to the industry’s push around AI PCs over the past year.
According to Dell, customers are not choosing devices based on AI features, even as neural processing units become standard across new laptops and desktops.
Dell says AI hype has not translated into buying decisions
Speaking about consumer behavior, Dell executive Kevin Terwilliger said the company has learned that AI-focused messaging has not resonated with everyday buyers.
“We’re very focused on delivering upon the AI capabilities of a device, in fact, everything that we’re announcing has an NPU in it, but what we’ve learned over the course of this year, especially from a consumer perspective, is they’re not buying based on AI,” Terwilliger said. “In fact, I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome.”
Despite that admission, Dell confirmed that AI hardware remains a core part of its product strategy. All newly announced systems include NPUs to support on-device AI features and upcoming software requirements.
At CES 2026, Dell’s presentations placed less emphasis on AI as a headline feature and focused more on traditional purchasing factors such as performance tiers, battery life, and form factor. The company framed AI as a built-in capability rather than a primary reason to buy.
AI has proven to be a staple at CES 2026, despite this, with companies releasing AI-powered products like Amazon’s Ring camera wildfire detection and Razer’s Project AVA hologram assistants.
