AMD wants the machine that runs your AI to sit on your desk, not in a distant data centre. The company has opened pre-orders for its Ryzen AI Halo developer platform, a compact AI workstation, and introduced the Ryzen AI Max PRO 400 Series, a line of processors aimed at commercial AI PCs. Both are pitched at people who want to build and run large AI models locally.
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Ryzen AI Halo: an AI box for your desk
The Ryzen AI Halo developer platform opens for pre-order in June 2026, sold through US retailer Micro Center at USD3,999. The current model runs on AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chip with up to 128GB of unified system memory and 2TB of storage. AMD says that is enough memory to run AI models of up to 200 billion parameters entirely on the machine, without sending data to the cloud. A next-generation Halo, due in the third quarter of 2026, moves to the new PRO 400 chips with up to 192GB of unified memory.
The Ryzen AI Max PRO 400 Series
For business machines, AMD introduced three Ryzen AI Max PRO 400 Series processors: the Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495, the PRO 490, and the PRO 485. The top Max+ PRO 495 carries 16 cores and 32 threads, boost clocks up to 5.2GHz, 80MB of total cache, 40 graphics compute units, and an NPU rated up to 55 TOPS, with support for 192GB of unified memory. AMD describes the series as the first x86 client processors able to run 300 billion parameter models locally. Commercial systems using the chips are due from ASUS, HP, and Lenovo starting in the third quarter of 2026.
Why running AI locally matters
Most generative AI today runs in the cloud, which means recurring per-use costs and sending your data off the device. Pushing large models onto a local machine flips that: the data stays put, there is no metered bill for every query, and the model keeps working offline. For developers building AI tools, and for businesses handling sensitive records, that combination is the appeal, and it is the same ground NVIDIA is contesting with its own small AI development box.
Price and availability
The Ryzen AI Halo platform is listed at USD3,999 for June 2026 pre-order through Micro Center, a US retailer, so Malaysian buyers do not have a local price yet. Commercial AI PCs built on the Ryzen AI Max PRO 400 Series will reach the market through ASUS, HP, and Lenovo from the third quarter of 2026, and Malaysian availability will follow those vendors' usual channels.
The pitch is consistent across both products: bring the AI factory out of the data centre and onto the desk, for anyone who would rather own the hardware than rent it by the token.