https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/dells-ces-2026-chat-was-the-most-pleasingly-un-ai-briefing-ive-had-in-maybe-5-years/ [] Skip to main content (*) ( ) Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition flag of US UK EditionUK US EditionUS CA EditionCanada AU EditionAustralia Subscribe Sign in * * View Profile * Sign out [ ] Search Search PC Gamer [ ] * * Games * Hardware * News * Reviews * Guides * Video * Forum * More + PC Gaming Show + Software + Movies & TV + Codes + Coupons + Magazine + Newsletter + Affiliate links + Meet the team + Community guidelines + About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? * Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag * Try a single issue or save on a subscription * Issues delivered straight to your door or device From$1 Subscribe now Don't miss these Satya Nadella laughing at the Microsoft 50th Anniversary Copilot event AI Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says it's time to stop talking about AI 'slop' and start talking about a 'theory of the mind that accounts for humans being equipped with these new cognitive amplifier tools' The CES 2025 logo, in the lobby of the Venetian Suites conference facility at the 2025 show with the crowds below. 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Gaming Headsets Razer announces Project Motoko: kind of like AI glasses but a gaming headset Popular * CES 2026 * GOTY Awards * Best PC gear * Arc Raiders * PC Gamer Quizzes! 1. Hardware Dell's CES 2026 chat was the most pleasingly un-AI briefing I've had in maybe 5 years News By Dave James published 6 January 2026 "A bit of a shift from a year ago where we were all about the AI PC." When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's how it works. Dell COO Jeff Clarke at its CES 2026 pr-briefing (Image credit: Dell | Alienware) Share Share by: * Copy link * Facebook * X * Whatsapp * Reddit * Pinterest * Flipboard Share this article 44 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google The unshakable presence of AI has been an unwelcome companion of my job for the past few years, but it sure feels like longer. It's not even like it's some excitingly malevolent artificial mind with tendrils of influence weaving its way throughout my world. That would at least be satisfying from a sci-fi perspective. No, what I've had to deal with can barely write, definitely cannot count, and has only just figured out what fingers are. Yet it's been something that has pervading every product announcement, presentation, or pre-briefing I've been a part of in recent times from any company even tangentially related to tech. To the point where I now have a bullshit AI bingo card I fill out just to distract myself from the barely resistible desire to stab a pen through my own hand just to feel something real. Every new piece of technology, whether that's a laptop, graphics card, mouse, keyboard, BBQ, whatever, is now presented as being powered by AI or comes with an AI assistant, or just has an 'AI' sticker on the box. Related articles * The Steam Deck alongside Valve's three new products: the Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller. We should all just take a moment to appreciate Valve announcing new Steam hardware in 2025 and NOT ONCE MENTIONING AI * Gigabyte's 'AI Forward' CES 2026 booth. Gigabyte loudly and proudly says it's 'AI Forward' at CES 2026 * The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i FIFA World Cup 2026 edition, at the Las Vegas Sphere Lenovo's Las Vegas Sphere event delivered an absolute barrage of AI announcements, but at least we got this, err, FIFA-themed Legion gaming laptop CES 2026 The CES logo on display at the show. (Image credit: Future) Catch up with CES 2026: We're on the ground in sunny Las Vegas covering all the latest announcements from some of the biggest names in tech, including Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Asus, Razer, MSI and more. So thank you, Dell, for making your CES 2026 pre-briefing so blessedly free of effusive AI chat that I just had to mention it. It started off with Dell vice chairman and COO, Jeff Clarke, taking to a small stage to talk about the state of the industry and where Dell and its Alienware sub-brand is going this year. He talks tariffs, the slow transitioning of the industry (he says CPU, but I'm presuming he meant OS and Windows 10 - 11), and then "we have this un-met promise of AI, and the expectation of AI driving end user demand," as well as the fact that "we're about ready to enter 2026 with a memory shortage that is pretty significant." Clarke and his co-presenters then go on to introduce the return of the XPS laptop lineup, some new high-end ultraslim Alienware laptops, as well as some entry-level Alienware laptops (cheap Alienwares? Really?), new spins of its Area-51 desktops, and a handful of new monitors. All of this is very "consumer-first" and aimed at dialling in to both expand the numbers of people using Dell/Alienware tech and the areas in which it operates. And the only mention of AI in the entire thing is Jeff's little line at the beginning. It's clear, concise, focused on the tech and, in the Q&A that followed, refreshingly honest. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. [ ][ ]Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands[ ]Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors[Sign me up] By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. "One thing you'll notice is the message we delivered around our products was not AI-first," Dell head of product, Kevin Terwilliger says with a smile. "So, a bit of a shift from a year ago where we were all about the AI PC." It's not that Dell doesn't care about AI or AI PCs anymore, it's just that over the past year or so it's come to realise that the consumer doesn't. Dell's new Alienware ultraslim and entry-level laptops (Image credit: Dell | Alienware) They're not buying based on AI. In fact I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them. Kevin Terwilliger, Dell head of product "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 says bluntly. "In fact I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome." In a way, you could argue that's tantamount to dumbing down the technology for the end user. But this isn't like withholding information about the core counts of the chips inside your machine, or the TGP of the mobile GPU at its heart for fear of confusing some fictitious customer. There are people who care about the hardware inside these devices, but it's becoming clear there are precious few who care about the AI components or theoretical capabilities of those machines. The fact that a huge PC brand such as Dell/Alienware has decided to ditch the AI-first marketing that seems to otherwise permeate everything--and honestly still permeates--is entirely welcome, very refreshing, and hopefully the mark of things to come. Because, until AI becomes a valid, useful technology for the end user of these devices, and not just some marketing check box or buzzword for investors, every company ought to take a leaf out of Dell's book and just keep schtum. And that's honestly not something I've said many times about the big PC box shifter in the past. AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D processor Best PC build 2025 All our favorite gear 1. Best CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 2. Best motherboard: MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi 3. Best RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32 GB DDR5-7200 4. Best SSD: WD_Black SN7100 5. Best graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 9070 Check out our list of guides TOPICS Hardware Alienware Dave James Dave James Social Links Navigation Editor-in-Chief, Hardware Dave has been gaming since the days of Zaxxon and Lady Bug on the Colecovision, and code books for the Commodore Vic 20 (Death Race 2000!). He built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 16, and finally finished bug-fixing the Cyrix-based system around a year later. When he dropped it out of the window. He first started writing for Official PlayStation Magazine and Xbox World many decades ago, then moved onto PC Format full-time, then PC Gamer, TechRadar, and T3 among others. Now he's back, writing about the nightmarish graphics card market, CPUs with more cores than sense, gaming laptops hotter than the sun, and SSDs more capacious than a Cybertruck. Show More Comments You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Logout Read more The Steam Deck alongside Valve's three new products: the Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller. We should all just take a moment to appreciate Valve announcing new Steam hardware in 2025 and NOT ONCE MENTIONING AI Gigabyte's 'AI Forward' CES 2026 booth. Gigabyte loudly and proudly says it's 'AI Forward' at CES 2026 The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i FIFA World Cup 2026 edition, at the Las Vegas Sphere Lenovo's Las Vegas Sphere event delivered an absolute barrage of AI announcements, but at least we got this, err, FIFA-themed Legion gaming laptop Claptrap Between bots calling themselves 'Mecha-Hitler' and 95% of businesses realising they don't know the point of AI, 2025 was the year the tech lost its shine even for the most blinkered execs A picture of the convention center where CES 2022 is held. CES 2026: From new Intel chips to far too much AI, here's everything we expect to see AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su on stage with 'AI is everywhere' in the background. 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