5 September 2026
Microsoft and Lenovo build stripped Windows PCs for running AI models locally
First reported
Tom's Hardware ran this on , 2 days before the next source picked it up.
- Microsoft created Project Zenith, a version of Windows 11 optimized for AI developers, with pre-installed coding tools and AI frameworks like GitHub Copilot and Python 3.14.
- The system runs large AI models (30 billion+ parameters) directly on the device instead of sending data to cloud services, avoiding expensive token-based billing that scales with usage.
- Lenovo's ThinkCentre X Ultra mini-PC will ship with Project Zenith starting November 2026, starting at $3,669, featuring AMD's latest processors and up to 128GB of memory.
- The tradeoff is steep hardware requirements: 64GB minimum unified memory and 250GB/s bandwidth, which remain expensive due to AI boom-driven RAM price increases.
- Four ThinkCentre X Ultras can cluster together to run larger models, longer conversations, or handle multiple requests simultaneously.
Reported by Tom's Hardware, Tom's Hardware