January 12, 2026 Microsoft’s vision for the future of the PC is built around Copilot, an AI assistant meant to turn Windows 11 into an “agentic” operating system that anticipates user needs. But at CES 2026, one of the world’s biggest PC manufacturers offered a sobering reality check that consumers are not buying into the AI story. Speaking at a press briefing ahead of the show, Dell executives acknowledged that expectations around AI-driven PC demand have not materialized.
Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke described what he called the “unmet promise of AI,” noting that while Dell expected artificial intelligence to stimulate end-user upgrades, “it hasn’t quite been what we thought it was going to be a year ago.”
That reassessment has shaped how Dell is positioning its upcoming hardware. Kevin Terwilliger, the company’s head of product, said Dell is no longer framing its 2026 lineup as “AI first.” Referring to its new messaging as “a bit of a shift from a year ago, where we were all about the AI PC,” Terwilliger added, “What we’ve learned over the course of this year, especially from a consumer perspective, they’re not buying based on AI. In fact, I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome.”
The remarks stop short of naming Microsoft, but the target is obvious. Copilot, the AI assistant Microsoft is embedding throughout Windows 11, has yet to become a must-have feature for home users. While Microsoft promotes Copilot PCs as a gateway to an “agentic” operating system, competing AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude continue to gain traction without requiring specialized hardware or deep OS integration. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s strategy hinges on persuading users they need new hardware with dedicated neural processing units to unlock meaningful benefits.
Reports suggest that the disconnect is not lost on Microsoft’s leadership. According to The Information, CEO Satya Nadella has taken an unusually hands-on role in reviewing Copilot’s consumer experience, sending internal feedback about bugs and missing features after concluding that the product lags behind rivals like Google’s Gemini. Dell’s comments suggest that even if Microsoft eventually closes that gap, the marketing challenge remains. Consumers don’t appear to understand why they need an “AI PC” today, especially when most visible AI benefits are delivered through cloud services that run just fine on older machines.
