Lenovo is building an AI assistant that ‘can act on your behalf’

Lenovo, the world's top PC maker, announced Qira, a system-level, cross-device AI assistant for its laptops and Motorola phones, representing its most ambitious AI effort. Jeff Snow, Lenovo's head of AI product, explained that Qira emerged from an internal reorganization centralizing AI teams to create built-in intelligence that learns from users and can act on their behalf, such as preparing meeting talking points based on PC documents.

Qira employs a modular approach, mixing local, on-device models with cloud-based models anchored by Microsoft/OpenAI infrastructure via Azure, and integrating models from Stability AI and partners like Notion and Perplexity. Lenovo deliberately avoided locking into a single AI model due to the rapid pace of the industry. This strategy contrasts with competitors, focusing instead on continuity, context, and direct device action, lessons learned from the limited retention of the previous Moto AI assistant.

Addressing privacy concerns following Microsoft's Recall backlash, Lenovo designed Qira with mandatory opt-in memory, visible recording indicators, and clear user controls. While Qira performs best on higher-end machines, Lenovo is working to optimize local models for lower RAM footprints. Strategically, Qira aims to retain customers within the Lenovo ecosystem by tightly integrating devices and differentiating hardware when specifications alone are insufficient.

(Source：The Verge)