China's homegrown OS fires back at AI PCs — openKylin gets AI assistant, text-to-image generation, and local LLM support

(Image credit: OpenKylin)

'AI' and 'AI PC' are, of course, two big buzzwords these days — and not only in the U.S. and Europe, but also in China, where openKylin just released what it's calling an operating system for AI PCs. OpenKylin is an open source OS based on Linux and maintained by the OpenKylin community, which is backed by a number of Chinese companies including Hygon and Phytium. Clearly, Chinese PC makers are interested in getting in on the AI PC craze — but Windows remains China's most-used OS.

The new version of openKylin launched Sunday, and is "deeply" integrated with AI, featuring support for on-device large language models (LLMs), an AI-assistant, and text-to-image generation, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.

OpenKylin wants to get in on the AI PC trend, which has been driven by hope that AI applications will reinvigorate demand for PCs. The company says that AI integration is designed to boost "productivity and user experience" for those using domestic operating systems. AI PCs are generally equipped with advanced processors capable of running generative AI tasks locally — instead of having to rely on cloud processing. It's unclear how the OS is supposed to accelerate AI workloads, and also whether it can take advantage of a CPU's built-in AI capabilities.

PC maker Lenovo sees China as a unique market for AI PCs due to its data-localization requirements, so openKylin might be correct in assuming it can get big in China with AI capabilities. On Monday, China's state-run newspaper, Science and Technology Daily, described the AI-enhanced version of openKylin as "secure, stable, and controllable." This is because, unlike Windows, openKylin is developed entirely in China by 3,876 developers from 271 different companies.

OpenKylin resembles Microsoft Windows, and is part of China's effort to decrease its dependence on foreign operating systems (and American technology in general). This initiative has been ongoing for a while, and was given an extra boost by the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.

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Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

4 Comments Comment from the forums

Findecanor

Personally, I would be more attracted by an OS if it had been labelled "AI-free".
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ThomasKinsley

Findecanor said:
Personally, I would be more attracted by an OS if it had been labelled "AI-free".
I agree with this. IMHO, the OS should facilitate whatever you want but integrate less. You want AI? Download it as a separate pack. In that way you make the OS what you want it to be.
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hotaru251

I do wonder on the long term chinese LLM....as they want it good(obviously) but they also cant let it become so good it starts producing stuff it blocks from the great firewall.
but again idk if i'd ever want an OS that is "deeply integrated" w/ "ai". (this current form of ai is a fad and it'll pass same as 3d tvs)
Reply
mitch074

hotaru251 said:
I do wonder on the long term chinese LLM....as they want it good(obviously) but they also cant let it become so good it starts producing stuff it blocks from the great firewall.
but again idk if i'd ever want an OS that is "deeply integrated" w/ "ai". (this current form of ai is a fad and it'll pass same as 3d tvs)
It's more like, "deeply integrated with the user interface" - people often aggregate the two, but running a modern OS with a barebone UI is perfectly possible - if not on Windows (AI integration in the cose OS has yet to be seen, they've barely managed to scratch the shell), at least on Linux - a modern kernel and a complete toolkit running on something as barebone as LXDE is perfectly viable.
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