Join The Club
Microsoft made a big deal about the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) when it first unveiled Copilot+ PCs in 2024. The specialized piece of hardware is key to running AI tasks locally with more efficiency, and it has now spread from Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips to the latest Intel and AMD processors.
Although the rise of the NPU has largely been associated with Copilot+ AI tools in Windows 11, including Cocreator, Live Captions, Windows Studio Effects, and Recall, it's also being put to work by a growing number of third-party apps.
1. Cephable — AI-assisted alternative inputs on PC
Cephable is an AI software platform designed to accommodate the replacement of traditional PC input methods. Rather than a mouse and keyboard, Cephable offers adaptive controls via head, eye, or other motions (captured with a camera), as well as voice.
It can be configured to control apps and automate tasks, and it works on Windows, MacOS/iOS, and Android.
Your PC's NPU comes into play due to Cephable's on-device privacy stance. It keeps sensitive video and voice data out of the cloud, with the NPU providing a more efficient way to power the effects.
Cephable was originally designed to enhance accessibility for people with disabilities, but it has since been adopted by a much wider range of users who want to reduce screen time and improve productivity.
Free plans are available if you want to give Cephable a try, and quotes are available for enterprise and education scenarios.
2. Adobe Photoshop — AI-assisted photo editing
Most modern photo editors, including Adobe alternatives like Luminar NEO, GIMP, and Affinity Photo, now feature some sort of AI editing abilities, but Photoshop is usually the app that gets the most attention.
With an NPU in your PC, Photoshop tools like subject selection, background removal, denoising, upscaling, and masking happen faster and more efficiently.
Not only does this leave the CPU and GPU open for other tasks, but it also reduces battery draw and heat, both of which are especially important when you're editing photos on a laptop.
You can give Photoshop a try for free, but otherwise it will cost about $23 per month.
3. Norton — AI-assisted deepfake and scam protection
I know that many of our readers find Windows Defender to be all they need to protect their PC, but Norton Antivirus has recently added some great features that rely on an NPU to function.
I'm talking chiefly about AI-powered scam protection that can identify audio and video deepfakes, website phishing setups, and even SMS scams with the free Norton Genie mobile app.
Norton's AI powered scam detection tools run on a PC's NPU to improve speed and efficiency, while at the same time keeping your data local with no calls out to the cloud.
Norton 360 plans for Windows start at $3.33 per month when you buy for a year.
4. Algoriddim djay Pro — AI-powered voice and instrument isolation
Algoriddim's djay Pro has been around for a long time as a popular music mixing tool, but it really only began to lean into the PC's NPU a couple of years ago when Qualcomm introduced its Snapdragon X chips.
One notable feature that runs on the NPU is Neural Mix. It's a tool designed to isolate instruments, vocals, and backing beat tracks using AI, making remixing and replaying a whole lot easier.
Algoriddim says the change to an NPU rather than the CPU has unlocked "best-in-class separation quality with unprecedented low latency," while at the same time making the overall experience "more intuitive and responsive."
You can test out Algoriddim djay Pro for free, but a monthly subscription costs $6.99. If you buy for a year, the fee drops to $49.99.
5. BufferZone NoCloud AI — Real-time phishing detection
BufferZone's NoCloud AI isn't a full piece of standalone software, but I won't let that technicality stop me from including it here.
NoCloud AI is a browser extension available for Edge and Chrome that's designed to detect phishing attacks in real time. The rise of AI has also benefitted bad actors, and it's no longer enough to rely on reputation lists and cloud-based analysis to detect phishing attempts.
Although these browser have their own phishing detection abilities, NoCloud AI is said to improve detection rates by 25% in Edge and 21.62% in Chrome.
Because NoCloud AI uses a PC's NPU (along with the GPU), BufferZone says it runs inference 40% faster compared to the CPU alone. And with no need to call out to the cloud, phishing is identified with 70% lower latency.
Unfortunately, BufferZone is only available for enterprise customers.
6. HP IQ — AI-powered business associate
HP IQ is a lot like Lenovo Qira in that it's a personal intelligence layer, except in HP's case, everything AI-related is handled right on the device's NPU.
HP calls IQ a "workplace intelligence layer" that facilitates workflow coordination and collaboration across devices. It can answer questions with voice and text requests, it can analyze and summarize documents, it can keep track of notes and actions, and it can record and capture ideas from live meetings.
Its NearSense feature also makes it incredibly easy to share files from PC to PC just by being in proximity.
HP IQ is arriving in the company's new EliteBook X G2 laptops first in Spring 2026, before rolling out to more HP laptops. Android compatibility is expected later in the year.
7. CapCut — AI-assisted video effects and editing
CapCut is a popular AI-powered video editor and creator that's often associated with social media.
Its Auto Cutout feature is the best example of a tool that gets better with an NPU, as it enables background removal and replacement with no need to send any of your data to the cloud.
The NPU is also leveraged for face tracking and some AI effects, leaving the CPU and GPU unburdened. As is almost always the case when the NPU is involved, this improves efficiency and lowers power draw.
You can download CapCut for your PC via the Microsoft Store. It's available for free with limited features; otherwise, it costs $19.99 per month or $179.99 per year.
Are you using any of these apps on your NPU-equipped Windows AI PC?
There are plenty of apps that make good use of the NPU in your AI PC, and this is just a starter kit to highlight some of the uses outside of Copilot+.
Are you already taking advantage of the AI features in these apps on your AI PC equipped with an NPU? Which one(s) do you enjoy most? Which ones would you like to see on this list that I omitted? Be sure to let me know in the comments section below!
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