Lenovo teams up with Nvidia to slash AI data centre deployment time

China’s Lenovo, (0992.HK), the world’s largest personal computer maker, announced that it has teamed up with US AI chip leader Nvidia (NVDA.O) to help AI cloud providers quickly put data centres into operation, as it strives to establish itself in AI.

The technology company, which also makes servers, made the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas while also showcasing an AI platform, concept devices and the first foldable smartphone under its Motorola brand.

Under the data centre program, Lenovo said it will offer its liquid-cooled hybrid AI infrastructure alongside Nvidia’s computing platforms to help AI cloud providers reduce deployment time to “weeks”.

“Lenovo AI Cloud Gigafactory with NVIDIA sets a new benchmark for scalable AI factory design, enabling the world’s most advanced AI environments to be deployed in record-setting time,” Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said in a speech next to Nvidia counterpart Jensen Huang.

Yang also unveiled Qira, a personal AI system designed to work across Lenovo and Motorola PCs, phones, tablets and wearables, even in the background. The system would also be able to provide services from the likes of travel company Expedia, Lenovo said.

Lenovo also showcased concept AI glasses, joining Alibaba (9988.HK) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) in the sector, and an AI assistant wearable device it is developing under “Project Maxwell” that will offer the wearer real-time help.