The work computer is about to change forever. It’s no longer just about having more power or better battery life, but about having a device capable of running artificial intelligence directly on the device, without constantly relying on the cloud. This is the bet from Intel with its third generation of Core Ultra processors and the new Panther Lake architecture, announced this week in Peru to the specialized press and technology partners.
Beyond the technical details, the message was clear: Latin America, and particularly Peru, have a huge opportunity for a technological leap. The combination of an aging IT infrastructure, the pressure to adopt AI in the corporate environment, and new security requirements create the perfect scenario for the widespread arrival of the so-called AI PCs.
87% of companies are already considering an AI-capable PC
During the presentation, José Cornejo, Business Development Manager for Latin America and country lead for Intel Peru, shared results from a study conducted with more than 5,000 senior executives across 23 global markets, of whom 1,050 are from the Americas region.
The key data point that opens the door to change is compelling:
- 87% of respondents have already started or plan to transition to AI-enabled PCs.
- Only 13% haven’t yet considered this migration.
Among those who haven’t taken the step yet, security appears as the main obstacle:
- 49% express concerns about data exposure in the cloud.
Conversely, among those already adopting AI PCs:
- 23% see security as a significant challenge,
- but 33% report no issues in this area.
Cornejo summarized the concern of many CIOs: companies want to leverage AI, but not at the expense of sending sensitive information to uncontrolled external services.
Security and training: two sides of the same coin
Intel states that AI PCs change the game in security:
“Today, AI PCs enable threat detection from the hardware layer, even before the operating system loads,” explained Cornejo, referencing the combined capabilities of the new processors and platforms like Intel vPro.
However, the study reveals that the main bottleneck is no longer just technological, but human:
- 95% of employees believe they need specific training to efficiently use an AI PC.
- But only 42% of organizations offer ongoing training.
- A 33% limit training to users once only,
- and a 35% admit to providing no training at all.
“Every day, new tools and models appear. This cannot be: ‘I give you your PC, a training, and that’s it’,” warned Cornejo. “It’s an opportunity for everyone in this ecosystem: we need to explain what to use, for whom, and how it enhances productivity.”
Regarding use cases, the study indicates that AI is already being employed in very specific tasks:
- 73% apply it in optimized search.
- 72% use it for real-time translation, especially in collaboration tools.
- 71% in predictive text (email, messaging, documents).
In other words, AI is already present in everyday tasks, even though many companies are still unclear about which specific tools are behind it.
The opportunity in Peru: millions of PCs ready for retirement
One of the data points that garnered the most attention from the audience was the region’s technology refresh map. According to figures shared by Intel:
- Peru is the third-largest country in Latin America in terms of technology infrastructure that needs renewing.
- Approximately 3.6 million devices cannot be upgraded to Windows 11.
- And 70% of those devices are five years old or older.
This is mostly due to the “buying spike” during the pandemic, when many companies massively renewed their PCs to support remote work. Those devices have now reached their end of life:
“Today, we have outdated machines without AI capabilities,” said Cornejo. “With our third-generation Core Ultra processors, we have reasons for the market to migrate quickly.”
According to Intel, AI PCs can reduce remote management by up to 65% and cut on-site technical visits by 90%, a key factor in hybrid work environments and organizations with multiple locations.
Panther Lake: Intel Core Ultra’s third generation
In the second part of the event, Federico Cañete, Intel’s technical specialist for Latin America, outlined the details of Panther Lake, the codenamed third generation of Intel Core Ultra.
Cañete provided context:
“A Boston Consulting study estimates that by 2028, 80% of PCs will have artificial intelligence. If we want to be prepared, the best thing is to have an AI PC today.”
Node 18A, RibbonFET, and PowerVia
Panther Lake will be the first Intel architecture manufactured on the 18A node, currently in production at two factories in the U.S.. This node features two key innovations:
- RibbonFET: a new-generation transistor with a gate that fully surrounds the channel in 3D, improving control and efficiency.
- PowerVia: a system that supply power to the chip from beneath, freeing up space on top for signals and enhancing energy performance.
Architecture by “tiles”: CPU, GPU, and platform
Far from the old monolithic design, Panther Lake opts for a disaggregated architecture in “tiles” or mosaics connected via Foveros technology:
- Compute Tile: hosts the CPU cores.
- GPU Tile: integrates the Intel Arc graphics of the new generation.
- Platform Controller Tile: manages connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, PCIe) and image processing, among others.
Three types of cores and an AI “orchestra conductor”
The hybrid architecture also evolves. Panther Lake incorporates three types of cores:
- P-Cores (Performance): maximum power for demanding, single-threaded tasks.
- E-Cores (Efficiency): balance between performance and power consumption.
- Low Power E-Cores: ultra-low-power cores for background tasks.
The one responsible for deciding where each process runs is the Thread Director, a system that uses AI to dynamically assign loads:
“The policy is clear: we first try to use low-power cores; if that’s not enough, we escalate to efficiency cores, and only then to performance cores,” explained Cañete. “Along with a cache 50% larger and shared, we aim to maximize battery life without sacrificing responsiveness.”
Xe³ GPU and fifth-generation NPU: up to 180 TOPS in a single PC
For AI, the GPU and NPU are the protagonists.
Xe³ GPU: more graphics, more AI
Panther Lake features the third generation of Xe graphics (Xe³):
- 50% more performance than the previous generation (Lunar Lake).
- Improvements for gaming and content creation as well as for AI workloads.
- XMX units to accelerate matrix calculations (typical of AI models).
- Ray Tracing Units for more realistic graphics.
Just the GPU alone can reach up to 120 TOPS (trillions of operations per second in AI), equivalent to the entire AI capacity of the Lunar Lake platform.
V5 NPU: truly efficient AI
The Neural Processing Unit (NPU) reaches its fifth version:
- Fewer engines (from 6 to 3), but larger and more powerful.
- Up to 50 TOPS of performance.
- Native support for 8-bit floating-point operations (FP8), eliminating quantization steps and boosting efficiency.
Cañete emphasized that the key is that AI doesn’t live only in the NPU:
- The CPU is ideal for low latency tasks, such as real-time voice translation.
- The GPU excels in massively parallel workloads, like image or video generation.
- The NPU offers the most efficient path for background and continuous tasks, such as background blurring or noise cancellation in video calls.
“By combining all three engines, Panther Lake can reach up to 180 TOPS in total,” said Cañete. “This opens the door to more complex and seamless AI experiences directly on the device.”
Connectivity and efficiency: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and 40% less power consumption
Panther Lake also comes standard with:
- Wi-Fi 7.
- Bluetooth 6.0.
- Thunderbolt 4 in all configurations.
In terms of power consumption, Cañete highlighted a reduction of about 40% compared to the previous generation. Part of the savings comes from the Image Processing Unit (IPU), capable of handling video enhancements and noise reduction, freeing up the CPU and saving up to 1.5 watts.
The disaggregated architecture also allows Intel to offer various core configurations:
- A basic model with 8 cores (4 performance and 4 low-power).
- Two 16-core models, aimed at workstations, content creators, and gaming devices.
Peru as a laboratory for corporate AI PCs
With millions of devices to renew, growing concern over cloud data security, and a region where AI is already integrating into daily tasks, Intel considers Peru a strategic market.
The combination of:
- Need for renewal (3.6 million PCs that can’t upgrade to Windows 11).
- Demand for productivity and collaboration in hybrid environments.
- And the pressure to protect sensitive data without always relying on the cloud.
creates fertile ground for AI PCs with Panther Lake to become the next wave of technological renewal in the country.
As Cornejo puts it, it’s about a new stage in device-based productivity: less cloud dependence, more security from hardware, and an AI experience that travels with the employee, ready to work even offline.
via: ctoperu