The new laptop to run local AI arrives from Saudi Arabia: this is the HUMAIN Horizon Ultra with Snapdragon X2 Elite

Beyond the United States and China, there are other actors who want to have a say in this AI. Attempts to natively combine AI with hardware are not new. In fact, rumors of a device created directly by OpenAI are frequent. Last year, we told you about the launch of the Horizon Pro laptop. In this case, we had to look to other latitudes, specifically Saudi Arabia. Today, we do it again because the company HUMAINin collaboration with Qualcomm, has launched the next version of its laptop designed for professional environments. The Horizon Ultra arrives.

The main point of this renewal is the arrival of the Snapdragon X2 Elite to the team. This processor, with 18 cores, is chosen for a computer that mainly treats AI as part of its core. And one of the declared objectives of this Saudi company is to bring the models and their local execution closer to companies. At the moment, this new equipment already has a market release date. It will be on September 20, although for now it will be done through a local distributor.

18 cores that share the tasks of local AI

The Snapdragon X2 Elite is not a new chip. In fact, it has been on the market for several months and has proven to be very solvent in all types of tasks. This SoC features an 18-core Oryon CPU, an Adreno GPU, and a Hexagon NPU. With all these elements, it has proven to be very efficient in loading AI model inferences. This point is the one that most interests HUMAIN, whose main objective is that the data processed in its equipment by the models does not travel outside the equipment.

Obviously, no matter how good the chip is, it won’t be able to do everything. There are tasks that still require execution on external servers. According to the firm, the equipment has been designed with a hybrid scheme which allows the most complex requests to be sent to the cloud. Thus, quick responses are obtained, prioritizing data sovereignty, but without giving up the power that an external server can offer.

During the presentation, HUMAIN CEO Tareq Amin spoke about how PCs are evolving into platforms where artificial intelligence operates natively. And this point is relevant, because what HUMAIN seeks is that the models are not a remote addition, but something that is found within the team. Along the same lines, Qualcomm’s vice president for EMEA, Wassim Chourbaji, stressed that specialized hardware facilitates the adoption of intelligent agents capable of interpreting user intent more intuitively in intensive productivity environments.

First Windows, then your own operating system

If HUMAIN wants a well-polished integration between software, AI and hardware, it has to work not only on the equipment itself, but also on offering an operating system that orchestrates these three legs. And he is doing it, although for now the team arrives without him. It is called HUMAIN OS and, according to the company, it will arrive in 2027.

Meanwhile, the device is now going on sale, but with Windows 11 inside. That this is the case is not only due to the fact that the operating system is not ready yet, but also to the need to integrate the equipment well into existing environments. If we talk about equipment for the company, Windows is still the undisputed king. Once HUMAIN OS is available, it can be installed on the computer. It will come with all the tools to get the most out of the Qualcomm platform. For example, it will include agents integrated at the system level with proprietary models that will run both locally and in the cloud.

Although it does not seem that we are going to see this equipment in our market, it is relevant because it represents an approach to the integration of AI that we are going to see in the coming months. An intelligence executed locally, without the need for remote connections and without subscriptions. And, for the heaviest tasks, the cloud will always be there to lend a hand.