Nowadays, companies are trying to shove all kinds of AI features into things, despite few, if any, even asking for them. None of them ever seem to take a hint, no matter how often consumers push back. At least, until now.
During a CES briefing with PC Gamer, Kevin Terwilliger, the tech giant’s head of product, admitted that AI features in its computers aren’t driving sales.
“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,” said Terwilliger. “In fact I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome.”
He noted that this has led Dell to not promote “AI-first” with its products this year, conceding that this was a shift from a year ago when the company was “all about the AI PC.” This year, the company’s CES lineup included the return of XPS laptops, an expansion of Alienware’s product suite and two monitors, including the world’s first 52-inch 6K display.
It’s honestly refreshing to see a tech company make such a public admission. While Dell will continue to invest in AI, it’s at least not shoving it down our throats like some other corporations.
The timing is also amusing since it comes right after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella got upset over people calling AI “slop,” leading many to call the company “Microslop” due to its incessant AI products and services, particularly with Copilot.
Source: PC Gamer
Update: 07/01/2026 at 5:20 p.m. ET — Updated headline to say buying “for” AI instead of “because of” for greater clarity.
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