Chips & Hardware
Nvidia launches RTX Spark chip to capture $200 billion AI market
Nvidia unveiled its RTX Spark CPU, a 1-petaflop chip designed for local AI agents, targeting a $200 billion market for AI CPUs starting this fall.
On Sunday, Nvidia opened the Computex trade show in Taipei by unveiling a new PC CPU called the RTX Spark. The chipmaker is calling the 1-petaflop processor a superchip—a marketing term used by Nvidia—designed to run AI agents like OpenClaw or Hermes Agent. AI agents are software programs capable of performing tasks autonomously. These RTX Spark Windows PCs will be available this fall. The initial lineup of hardware partners manufacturing these devices includes:
- Microsoft (which developed secure sandboxes, or isolated environments for running software securely, and is manufacturing the Surface Laptop Ultra)
- Dell
- HP
- ASUS
- Lenovo
- MSI
- Acer
- Gigabyte
The new platform is supported by 100 Windows software makers and 1,000 games and applications, with backing from companies such as Adobe, Blender, ComfyUI, Riot Games, and Xbox. Nvidia stated that its RTX technology will deliver faster performance for AI, better image quality, and support for AI features across these applications. Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang envisions a shift away from manual user inputs like clicking and typing. “With RTX Spark and Microsoft Windows, you ask — and the PC does the work,” Huang said. Last month, during an earnings call, Huang stated that Nvidia has found a new $200 billion market for CPUs for AI. As part of this broader push, Nvidia reported it has already sold $20 billion worth of its Vera server CPUs.
This is not Nvidia’s first attempt at ARM-based Windows PCs. In 2013, a previous effort failed, leading Microsoft to write off $900 million on its Surface RT. However, Microsoft is backing this new effort heavily, calling its upcoming Surface Laptop Ultra the most powerful Surface Laptop ever built. Pricing details remain scarce, but the new systems appear to be full-fledged Windows versions of the DGX Spark developer mini-computer, which Nvidia sells for about $4,800. If Nvidia has cracked the code on bringing AI agents to the masses, the impact could—and should—be big.
Why it matters
Nvidia is pivoting from pure GPU dominance to the CPU market to enable local AI agent execution, a strategic move to capture a $200 billion opportunity while attempting to overcome historical failures in the ARM-based PC sector.