AI was supposed to sell PCs. Instead, PC shipments just crashed 20% as AI eats the world’s RAM, and Windows 11’s Copilot agents aren’t convincing buyers

[u/After_Cookies]

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/10/11/ai-was-supposed-to-sell-pcs-instead-pc-shipments-just-crashed-20-as-ai-eats-the-worlds-ram-and-windows-11s-copilot-agents-arent-convincing-buyers/

[u/Biscuits4u2]

I think they expect you to never own powerful enough hardware again and you'll rely on them for all your compute needs.

[u/PJballa34 → u/Biscuits4u2]

With a sweet subscription plan of course.

[u/Errorr404 → u/PJballa34]

No, no, you'll also need to buy their proprietary box to receive and decode the encrypted feed and for latency optimizations along with a subscription. Maybe I'm giving them too many ideas though...

[u/UltraGaren → u/Errorr404]

Nothing that a mob of angry users can't reverse engineer

Just look at the current state of the PS5

[u/Errorr404 → u/UltraGaren]

True, nothing stops hyper fixated coders when they get pissed off.

[u/Castun → u/Errorr404]

Weaponized autism does wonders.

[u/nooneisback → u/Errorr404]

The AI getting better part might have also backfired a bit.

[u/TeamWorkTom → u/nooneisback]

It's completely backfired. People are now reverse engineering so much and it's not going away.

This is only the start.

Imagine what this tech will do in a year.

[u/sips_white_monster → u/TeamWorkTom]

It's not as great as you think it is. It's a knife that cuts both ways. Yes you can decompile everything. But that also destroys the old market system where studios hire developers, pay them salaries, and then they make a product that can be sold. If that product can be deconstructed on day 1 by anyone with a GPU, then the product no longer has any value. That inevitably means studios disappear since they lose their revenue stream, or they will have to switch to some kind of streaming-only system where the end user never has access to any code but is instead given a video feed of the game as they play.

Only in the short term is AI going to make things better. In the long run AI means studios die out, game development as a job disappears and hardware will become too expensive for the average user, instead forcing them to use subscription-based systems where they use compute from a datacenter (thus surrendering all control to a handful of mega corporations).

[u/gokarrt → u/nooneisback]

yup. ai unwinds bullshit even better than it spins it.

[u/hotdwag → u/Errorr404]

Hell anyone can become a pissed off fixated coder with the power of AI. The speed at which these supposed cleanroom implementation of PS5 hardware emulation are coming out is crazy to experience at the very least

[u/Gamiac → u/hotdwag]

They're implementing system calls, I think, not hardware emulation. Think Wine/Proton rather than ZSNES.

[u/bigb1 → u/Gamiac]

PS5 has the same architecture (x86-64) no need to emulate it.

[u/Gamiac → u/bigb1]

Exactly. Everything that's being "emulated" is software, hence it being a translation layer like Proton or Wine.

[u/OneTrueKram → u/Gamiac]

Then how does that explain PS5 games like Wolverine and Demon Souls running on PC?

[u/BlazingSpaceGhost → u/OneTrueKram]

Look into how proton works to translate windows games to Linux. They aren't emulating the hardware because the hardware is off the shelf PC hardware. Instead they are translating ps5 system calls to native pc vulkan.

[u/OneTrueKram → u/BlazingSpaceGhost]

Ok so there’s a distinction in the emulator process but the end result (PS5 games on PC) is the same, right? Does that mean full blown PS5 games are easier on PC than say a PS3/4?

[u/OkFox8124 → u/Errorr404]

Honestly, it's why Linux even still exists/keeps progressing.

[u/LostClan → u/OkFox8124]

Everything that isn't your consumer products (and plenty of things that are) run Linux.

Pretty much every webserver is Linux. Every storage array is running some kind of Linux. All of those AI compute nodes are running Linux. Android is Linux. MacOS and IOS are either Unix (for full MacOS) or Unix-like (IOS) which is different enough, but as someone with plenty of Linux certs I can navigate my way around just fine due to Linux design principles. Same goes for switches.

[u/arnoldzgreat → u/Errorr404]

Problem is hardware, hacks can't manufacture new hardware. I really don't know how this train that is gaining steam is stopped because it really might be their only way out, they've invested so much into unprofitable data centers been pushing cloud computing/gaming for years.

[u/FewSuggestion3216 → u/Errorr404]

I think well be back to how it was back in the day with Terminals or well see many many more thin clients as OS and Software pushes more towards cloud only. History repeats and older computer system styles are much much better for profit and control.

[u/TeamWorkTom → u/FewSuggestion3216]

Delusional.

Cloud requires serves to work properly. Who's got the money to build these severes?

You think big tech wants to spend a premium on cloud during this AI boom?

That's just insanity.

[u/RegisFranks → u/TeamWorkTom]

....who do you think currently owns the hardware for "cloud"?

Imma give you a hint: its not us, the consumers, with our $5k 5090s.

[u/FewSuggestion3216 → u/TeamWorkTom]

What? They already have them?
Yes I do think big tech would bleed money for control, see the many companies that run in a loss just to destabilize.

[u/TeamWorkTom → u/FewSuggestion3216]

No they don't.

How many attempts at cloud gaming and computing has there been?

How many have actually succeeded?

Luna is propped up by Amazon so it's not the same as a service dedicated to cloud.

Have you seen the throttling and limited game time these services have been doing to their cloud services?

You clearly haven't been paying attention.

[u/algaefied_creek → u/Errorr404]

Ugh it’s cable companies all over again. That’s what Sam Altman meant when he said he wants to see intelligence as a utility?! 🤦‍♂️

[u/professorbuffoon → u/Errorr404]

Same as cable boxes, ISP-provided gateways, and similar. This is not a new idea.

[u/Biscuits4u2 → u/PJballa34]

That they'll raise the price on regularly.

[u/CynicSackHair → u/Biscuits4u2]

I would rather just drop the entire PC and gaming hobby all together, than to have everything depending on a aubscription service. I'll find another hobby, no problem.

[u/Biscuits4u2 → u/CynicSackHair]

Don't worry, they'll eventually find a way to make all other hobbies a subscription service too.

[u/TeamWorkTom → u/Biscuits4u2]

They are going to make dancing a subscription?

I can dance where ever the fuck I want.

[u/Separate_Offer4222 → u/Biscuits4u2]

i mean. they kinda are already?

Gym? Subscription, swimming pool? subscription, golf, basketball, football, bowling? subscription.

Everything now requires a license or a yearly/monthly payment of some sort.

[u/send-moobs-pls → u/Separate_Offer4222]

I mean... those are places? Or like, businesses. Someone has to own it and it requires ongoing expense and upkeep, you aren't exactly going to charge a one time fee for permanent lifetime access to the bowling alley. The only realistic alternative is when those things are part of public resources, in which you're still paying a "subscription" because it takes taxes to have those things. Just seems like a really silly set of examples compared to hobbies that actually make sense to do alone in your home, its not like you need shared infrastructure to knit, bake, paint, play guitar, etc

[u/Separate_Offer4222 → u/send-moobs-pls]

Yea, sure, if you wanna see it under that perspective fine, that wasn't really the point i was trying to make anyway...

[u/_TERRANE_ → u/Separate_Offer4222]

They can't charge me for doing weird shit in my house!

[u/Solid-Search-3341 → u/_TERRANE_]

They will charge you for doing them in public though !

[u/Super-Revolution-433 → u/Separate_Offer4222]

I mean you can just own all those things

[u/Gamiac → u/Super-Revolution-433]

Yeah, lemme just buy an entire golf course real quick.

[u/Separate_Offer4222 → u/Super-Revolution-433]

Yea, you could also own a data center

[u/Orson1981 → u/Separate_Offer4222]

I feel like a basketball must be cheaper than a data center. I mean, it has been years since I bought a basketball, and inflation has been crazy, but surely a basketball must be less than a single Nvidia 5090, let alone a whole building of them, right?

[u/Separate_Offer4222 → u/Orson1981]

For real? I could have sworn it was the other way around!

[u/Super-Revolution-433 → u/Separate_Offer4222]

I mean outside of bowling all the things I said you could own are things you can reasonably own as an individual or family, not a corporation. plus most of them except bowling can also be done entirely for free in a lot of places

[u/Separate_Offer4222 → u/Super-Revolution-433]

Look man, i know you can own a ball, go play in a park with other 12 yo and get arrested in the process, that was not the point of my comment. And if we want to be this meticolous, not everybody has a basketball court readily available 10 meters from home, where i live the only option is a paid infrastructure, and you need a car to go there as we don't even have buses, so yea...

[u/Super-Revolution-433 → u/Separate_Offer4222]

My man most Americans live in a house and can just have a hoop in their driveway. Like I'm sorry your specific situation precludes that but it doesn't mean being able to freely play basketball is some kind of pipe dream. Anyone could have a specific situation that prevents them from playing for free, that doesn't mean it isn't widely and freely available to most people

[u/Separate_Offer4222 → u/Super-Revolution-433]

Nobody ever said it was impossible, again, you're purposely missing the point, but ok, keep fighting your own strawman, have a good day.

[u/Orson1981 → u/Separate_Offer4222]

Take up knitting bro, the only expense is yarn and you end up with a sick sweater.

[u/TeamWorkTom → u/Separate_Offer4222]

You know you can go to a public park and do most of those things free or at least the cost of your equipment?

[u/Separate_Offer4222 → u/TeamWorkTom]

No, i needed the wisdom of a redditor to guide my poor soul

[u/Gamiac → u/Separate_Offer4222]

I'd like to see them try to make skating a subscription.

[u/Biscuits4u2 → u/Separate_Offer4222]

So the solution is...more of that?

[u/thaskthebard → u/Biscuits4u2]

Jerking off and crying in the corner, New DLC subscription.

[u/Biscuits4u2 → u/thaskthebard]

There might be an ad supported tier. Learn all about how good reverse mortgages are just as you get ready to shoot your load.

[u/BombaLogic → u/CynicSackHair]

Imagine being so AAA-brained that you take up a completely different hobby instead of playing older games that can run on lower spec hardware.

[u/stiff_tipper → u/BombaLogic]

if u assume that one has to play video games as a hobby, sure, but ... like... not all of us are gaming addicts like that?

[u/AutoCockerPB → u/Biscuits4u2]

That will never work fully in America bc the billionaires who own the telecom companies refuse to upgrade their lines. My internet would never work with low enough latency until they ran fiber. Which they wont.

[u/dookarion → u/AutoCockerPB]

It's never going to work anyway, because you actually need hardware to stream data with a decent experience.

Every time someone totes out this idea they fail to realize how much compute hardware is in something like a Stadia streaming box or something like an Apple TV. Even the better "Smart TVs" need more compute hardware inside to handle better quality video streaming, not even interactive content.

Everything still needs a CPU, RAM, encoding/decoding hardware, some local storage, etc.

[u/TeamWorkTom → u/dookarion]

Yeah these cloud doomers are annoying.

They ingore the giant Lion in the room that is video game companies for one thing

These companies make more than Hollywood.

Next they ignore the giant physical limitation of electrical speed.

Distance no matter what will increase latency. Only solution for that is servers literally everywhere.

Who the fuck is buying and building cloud servers with hardware prices right now? Fucking no one.

[u/dookarion → u/TeamWorkTom]

Right, and Onlive failed, Stadia failed, Luna... is it still a thing? Nvidia capped Geforce now hard, and Microsoft keeps scaling back their cloud xbox service. Netflix gaming was a flop. Anything else is just a tacked on "value add" to other more dominant subscriptions.

No one has made it work as a broadscale standalone product, and they've had to scale back the hours or increase the prices. If big tech hasn't made it stick and keeps shuttering their attempts it's not happening any time soon.

[u/21shadesofsavage → u/dookarion]

i got no stake in this argument, but luna got the recently released star wars galactic racer. never used luna before. works pretty well. their library size is pretty shit but has some surprising hits

[u/dookarion → u/21shadesofsavage]

So much of it comes down to location and connection. It's not unusable if the circumstances line up well enough, it's just not going to happen any time soon (if ever) on the "big scale".

[u/21shadesofsavage → u/dookarion]

yeah definitely. rn i live 4ms away from the nearest datacenter. streaming latency was unnoticeable for me when playing galactic racer. whatever the fuck peering my isp was doing when i lived somewhere else put me at an unstable 30-80ms for game streaming. that was pretty unusable

the physical internet infrastructure in the us needs to be fixed for game streaming to take off. there's no good reason why i can live in one of the biggest cities and have such volatile connection with only one isp available

[u/dookarion → u/21shadesofsavage]

with only one isp available

Big business has figured out competing doesn't actually benefit them. They're more than happy with divvying up the market. Look at AMD with Nvidia. Look at the DRAM foundries. The telecoms.

Needing to provide better services, infrastructure, and pricing just means they have to do more work or spend more for less revenue.

[u/SophiaKittyKat → u/AutoCockerPB]

Hate to tell you, but you'll just be left behind and your internet infrastructure will probably not even be maintained. Your options will be starlink or nothing. The wealthy have figured out that at this point in history since before, broad groups had a decent chunk of money, appealing to large numbers was good. Now that only the top 10% have any money, it makes more sense to serve those people and ignore everyone else. In the 2000's-2010's what you're saying was very much what the stance on things was, but now nobody cares anymore.

[u/dib1999 → u/Biscuits4u2]

"Why do you need hardware? Just video generate a movie to watch. You need to get comfortable controlling your entertainment in a different way." - some exec somewhere

[u/Gamiac → u/dib1999]

Meet me in q3dm6, fucker.

[u/waylo88 → u/Biscuits4u2]

This is exactly their plan. Sell you what you've been able to buy/build yourself for years, but now its a subscription that's infinitely more expensive, while also being a wholly worse solution.

[u/SycoJack → u/waylo88]

More importantly, they're able to control your use so you won't be able to use it to pull yourself up like they did.

It's just more ladder pulling.

[u/dookarion → u/Biscuits4u2]

I think they expect you to never own powerful enough hardware again and you'll rely on them for all your compute needs.

Nah.

You still need hardware to stream anything with remotely decent quality. You can't just plug an ethernet cable into a panel and away you go. If you have enough hardware to handle a "4K" TV stream properly (not even interactive content) you still have enough specs to do most shit locally (other than like notable gaming). Those 4K streaming compatible streaming boxes frequently have hardware that puts raspberry pi's to shame, and everyone should know how versatile the Pi is.

You can restrict all hardware or you can stream everything, you can't actually do both.

[u/nullptr777 → u/dookarion]

Yeah but you only need cheap, Chinese ARM boxes to do that. I dunno about you, but I'm not interested in being limited to trash hardware like that.

[u/dookarion → u/nullptr777]

Sort of.

Still realistically everyone's thinking deeper into this shit than it warrants. Some are trying to think there is some nefarious masterplan instead of dumb as fuck greed. Game companies do not have that kind of sway over the greater market, they may be "big" but they aren't "that" big. Consider Valve can barely secure RAM for the stuff they want to sell. Even entities like Microsoft are screwing different branches of their own business with their AI moves in ways that just harm their own product adoption and pricing.

Additionally telecoms are notorious for not wanting to build infrastructure. And many hold regional monopolies or near monopolies.

Then you have the fact that phones, tablets, and etc. have enough hardware to be solid computing devices in their own right. Not all of their features can be streamed without breaking functionality, and the cell networks aren't nearly robust enough for it. And those are fully capable of "reasonable" gaming. More so than a lot of internet infrastucture.

There's no grand nefarious plan here, the deeper you dig into the finances of the AI push that much is apparent. It's a bunch of business bros and tech cultists slinging shit at the wall with little thought into side-effects or the future.

[u/Biscuits4u2 → u/dookarion]

other than like notable gaming

Yes. That's what we're talking about here.

[u/dookarion → u/Biscuits4u2]

There isn't the infrastructure to make that work either, and that still needs local hardware to facilitate.

Also just a mid-tier ipad can play something like RE4Re, it's going to be hard to restrict hardware enough to make local gaming impossible.

[u/BaconIsntThatGood → u/Biscuits4u2]

I'm not going to give them that much credit and honestly think none of the manufacturers thought ahead beyond "AI cool and people will throw money at it!" - then when the "real money" was in data center hardware they just chased it and don't give a fuck about consumer segments because the relative revenue is so small.

[u/notsureifxml → u/Biscuits4u2]

They missed the part where even shit tier pcs use the same hardware

[u/badfiop → u/Biscuits4u2]

Even Tracfone tier Walmart specials (like the Samsung A17) are across the board getting price increases due RAM supply issues. 

[u/Henchforhire → u/Biscuits4u2]

With tokens regulated by congress who implemented a per use tax 

[u/Neat_Improvement_294 → u/Biscuits4u2]

I think they do expect that as well.

And I'm not sure how many more people feel like me here but I'm a life long gamer who will gladly quit gaming forever if the only method for me to do so is to rent computing power.

[u/TeamWorkTom → u/Biscuits4u2]

The Epstein class are completely out of touch with reality.

These CEOs have no idea how little money the rest of the people have.

[u/dookarion → u/TeamWorkTom]

These CEOs have no idea how little money the rest of the people have.

Too much clearly, the CEOs don't have ALL of it yet.

(This was a joke, but it's honestly how those scumbags think)

[u/LedditModsSuckAlways → u/Biscuits4u2]

I agree. Ironically it might make the computers we have now even more valuable since you won't be a slave to their system. At this rate tho I'm sure someone will just decompile it and make it free so whatever

[u/Biscuits4u2 → u/LedditModsSuckAlways]

It has made the computers we have now even more valuable.

[u/F9-0021 → u/Biscuits4u2]

Sure, but all hardware uses RAM and storage. So the shortage affects low end systems too.