Intel releases NPU drivers with Arrow Lake support — AI PC users will have yet another component that may require regular updates

News
By
published

Intel NPU version 32.0.100.3053 drivers are here.

Render of Intel's "AI PC" architecture, which involve a CPU, NPU, and GPU all built onto a single Intel Core Ultra CPU.
(Image credit: Intel)

If you own an "AI PC" from Intel or AMD, that means you have an onboard Neural Processing Unit (NPU) alongside your typical CPU cores and graphics. And if you weren't aware, it seems — at least for Intel NPUs — you'll have yet another driver to potentially update on a regular basis. Even if you don't bother with Windows' AI PC features, these driver updates include security fixes alongside fixing issues or adding features, so it's probably a good idea to be diligent with these updates.

If you're using an Intel NPU on a Windows 10 PC rather than a Windows 11 PC, Intel also recommends that you outright disable the NPU within the BIOS rather than keeping it or its drivers enabled. What happens if you don't do this isn't clear (probably nothing for most situations), but leaving a potentially unusable NPU enabled could serve as a vector for attack or contribute to system instability.

Anyway, the latest Intel NPU driver was released on October 11. Intel NPU driver version 32.0.100.3053 adds support for OpenVINO 2024.4 and Arrow Lake CPUs. These are minor but expected changes ahead of the full launch of Arrow Lake CPUs that's scheduled for October 24. We'll have a full review of some of the processors then, where we'll have independent testing of Intel's next-gen desktop CPUs, the new socket, and the new architecture.

Arrow Lake and its Intel Core Ultra design should completely do away with the hardware issues that infamously plagued 13th and 14th Gen Intel 'Raptor Lake' CPUs, so at least we have that to look forward to. Of course, being a brand new platform and architecture, there plenty of potential for other problems to emerge over time.

But getting back to the NPU drivers. Fixed Issues include Microsoft Copilot performance and accuracy improvements, along with aligning the "UD40 Driver version number." There are also fixes specifically for Lenovo View Video enhancer,  a krisp model loading issue, and enabling and optimizing face/eye tracking and 2D/3D conversion functionalities. Lenovo View Video Enhancer, for those unfamiliar, is a component of the Lenovo View device driver (for Lenovo devices but especially AI PC-enabled ThinkPads) that provides better video call features, including quality adjustments, background concealing, and even little health warnings.

Intel has already established a regular cadence for NPU driver updates, looking at the history of releases. There's basically a new driver revision every month, sometimes enabling new devices (like the Keem Bay video processing unit), more often just addressing a few bugs. But we'd expect NPU driver updates from Intel's competitors to be just as important in the coming years, particularly if the AI PC features and Copilot+ really take off.

Christopher Harper
Christopher Harper
Contributing Writer

Christopher Harper has been a successful freelance tech writer specializing in PC hardware and gaming since 2015, and ghostwrote for various B2B clients in High School before that. Outside of work, Christopher is best known to friends and rivals as an active competitive player in various eSports (particularly fighting games and arena shooters) and a purveyor of music ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Killer Mike to the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack.

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • DS426
    After reading the first paragraph, I thought "well sh*t, what about just disabling the thing like iGPU's on desktop CPU's?" Fortunately, the second paragraph not only confirmed it's possible but recommended it on Windows 10 systems. Umm... so what happens if it's turned off on Windows 11 24H2 and it's "new" kernel (it's not a feature enablement package this time around).
    Reply
  • Mama Changa
    Why would you need to disable it on Windows 10. Firstly 10 supports copilot if you are into that crap, secondly I presume the NPU can be leveraged by software like Topaz Gigapixel AI just like it is on MacOS. Topaz can leverage GPU/cpu and npu IIRC.
    Reply
  • emike09
    I'm the outlier that enjoys updates. Sure, I kinda get 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', but I also know my hardware is more capable with development over time. I wish my Subaru Eyesight became even more intelligent with the hardware it has based on better software because I know it can, but cars stick to 'it is what it is' (except Tesla, and other outliers). The Voyager Space Probes could have just abandoned half its missions and just kept plowing into space, bypassing massive amounts of discovery and research that had never been seen before, but software updates keep it going for 45 years and still going. SpaceX Starship could have just lobbed its ships into space and the ocean and not been caught by some chopsticks out of mid-air, but used software updates to save and re-use millions, if not billions in resources. We now have the hardware to get to space, we need the software to get to Mars and beyond. And that physical hardware was built from... software - and updates.

    Sometimes updates break things, rarely they can be inconvenient in my experience. Sometimes new software and updates are lazy and could be better. Moving forward is what humans are. Sometimes we don't do it right, sometimes we make breakthroughs, sometimes we affect 1/4 of the corporate globe from a Crowdstrike update. We're an evolving species with evolving ideas and evolving solutions. Sometimes we make mistakes, but we fix them and try to do better.

    So imagine being given the gift of the NPU, but it can only do x and y. You spend 3-8 years only being able to x and y, but the entire time, the NPU was capable of A-Z, we just had to figure out how to do it. But because you hate updates, you're satisfied with only x any y, so you just end up spending a ton of money on the latest and greatest later on. Because even though what you had could do it, you didn't want to update.

    Long story short - quit hating on updates. If you don't like updates, DOS 1.0 was probably fine for you. Back to the stone age. Actually, go back to before the stone age. Back when you were a monkey and all that ran through your mind was bugs, monkey lady. Big cat attack. Must run. Much colds. Wish was warm. Wish Update.
    Reply