HP's chief commercial officer predicts the future will include AI-powered PCs that don't share data in the cloud | Fortune

"Increased focus on "privacy and security" may open the door for AI-enabled devices rather than rely entirely on cloud computing and remote data centers. "In a world where sovereign data retention matters, people want to know that if they input data to a model, the model won't train on their data," David McQuarrie, HP's chief commercial officer, told Fortune in October. Using an AI locally provides that reassurance."

"HP, like many of its devicemaking peers, is exploring the use of AI PCs, or devices that can use AI locally as opposed to in the cloud. "Longer term, it will be impossible not to buy an AI PC, simply because there's so much power in them," he said. More broadly, smaller companies might be served just as well by a smaller model running locally than a larger model running in the cloud. "A company, a small business, or an individual has significant amounts of data that need not be put in the cloud," he said."

"Governments the world over, and particularly in Asia, are also investing in local sovereign AI capabilities, trying to avoid relying entirely on systems and platforms housed wholly overseas. South Korea, for example, is partnering with local tech companies like search giant Naver to build its own AI systems. Singapore is investing in projects like the Southeast Asian Languages in One Network (SEA-LION), which are better tailored to Southeast Asian countries."

Growing concern for privacy and security is encouraging a shift toward AI-enabled devices that run models locally instead of relying solely on cloud computing. Local AI can prevent models from training on user input, offering reassurance and stronger sovereign data retention. Device makers like HP are developing AI PCs to perform on-device inference and support smaller, local models that suit small businesses and individuals. Asian governments have tightened data sovereignty rules and are investing in sovereign AI capabilities, partnering with local tech firms and funding region-specific projects such as SEA-LION. HP's Asia revenue grew 7% to $13.3 billion, about a quarter of total revenue.

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