At CES 2026, AMD showcased the Ryzen AI Halo, a compact desktop aimed at AI developers. Unlike traditional consumer PCs, this platform is built to support the development of AI applications, combining high-performance processing with AI-specific hardware. The Ryzen AI Halo marks AMD’s first step into dedicated AI development systems for consumer-oriented projects.
The desktop is powered by the Ryzen AI Max 395+, featuring a 16-core, 32-thread “Zen 5” CPU designed for multitasking and compute-intensive workloads. Complementing the CPU is a large integrated GPU based on AMD’s RDNA 3.5 architecture, offering 40 compute units for graphics and parallel processing. The system also includes a Microsoft Copilot+ NPU capable of 50 TOPS, which is intended to accelerate AI model training and inference. Users can configure the system with 32 to 64 GB of LPDDR5X memory and run either Windows 11 or Linux, depending on their development requirements. The desktop comes preloaded with AI models that are optimized for its hardware, providing developers with a ready-to-use environment for testing and building AI applications.
Cooling has been a focus for AMD in this design. The Strix Halo SoC is supported by a custom cooling solution that includes a baseplate, direct-touch flat heatpipes, an aluminium channel heatsink, and two lateral airflow blowers. This arrangement is designed to maintain thermal stability even under sustained workloads.
AMD has indicated that the Ryzen AI Halo will be available starting in the second quarter of 2026. While it is not positioned to directly compete with high-end AI servers, the system offers a compact and capable option for developers looking to build AI tools for consumer applications. By combining CPU, GPU, and NPU capabilities in a single package, AMD is providing a versatile platform for experimenting with AI workloads in a desktop environment.
