Gigabyte today hosted the "Gigabyte Unleashed" event at Computex2024. There was a small display on a wall-mounted motherboard, a few new OLED screens to stare lovingly at, and a smattering of gaming laptops pushed into the corner so that they weren't really invited. All the usual suspects you expect from the Gigabyte announcement.

A lot to talk about for our speakers then you would think. And you would be wrong. Instead, the press assembled with me was treated to a lengthy presentation showcasing "Gigabyte AI TOP," an "all-around solution" to "gain an advantage over traditional AI training methods." As for the exciting new hardware, if not AI-related, it took a very back seat. 

For diligence, let's start with Gigabyte's AI TOP Utility, a tool and user interface that essentially helps you train your own AI model. It remains unclear why this was the initial focus of the event and why our hosts were so excited.

"It's very easy," the presenter says, because it shows a complex sequence of menus, sliders, and checkboxes. "Even beginners can easily adjust parameters and optimize model training with just a few clicks.Of course, carefully avoid the guessed question of how many people really need it. If you're someone familiar with the complexity of building AI models, having a user interface other than something that's not intuitive may be a boon.

But in a room full of tech journals, surrounded by motherboards, OLED monitors, and much more interesting-looking gaming laptops, it was just the beginning. After about 20 minutes — as yet more menus were revealed — our host was definitely losing the crowd. 

People started chatting among themselves. i heard a snigger. I've seen someone stand up for sandwiches and coffee, a mid-presentation twice a fake pass at most events where someone is talking, I think it's fair to say. Here, I sympathized.

The eyelids began to droop. Jet lag in Taipei, creeping up.

AI could be a hot new thing, kids. But the GUI that helps you build your own, which still looks horribly complex and picky, with the best will in the world, reveals exciting

Gigabyte AI Despite the apparent single half-hearted "cry" of 0.34 tokens created per watt for PC setup. I will not argue either. Or something. At this point, I was clinging to my sanity. At some point, I thought hopefully we'll talk about some game hardware.

The AI top motherboard was shown to "maximize the potential of AI training" with multiple PCIe5.0 slots and a dual slot RTX4070Ti Super design built to stack in groups for AI processing. "AI PSU", "1600W unit for AI training" with single wall plug. The "AI TOP SSD", which Gigabyte means, is a decent-spec Gen4 drive with a very high durability rating.

Quietly, my beating heart.

Behind us sat OLED monitors, rear-connector motherboards and case designs, like children dressed up for a school disco. But the presentation seemed to have decided to ignore their presence. Not one mention was made.

As far as Gigabyte is concerned, AI seems to be the only game in town worth talking about this year. And it's far from the only company leaning in that direction. At least at Gigabyte's event, it seems that those of us who were focused on the game's hardware, the display, or actually anything else, were demoted. It's there, but it's a really exciting AI thing. It's a promise.

Still, it wasn't all bad. We were shown a clip of an AI top tutor that came in the form of a 3D rendered AI model of a woman who was told she could "fulfill all wishes" thanks to the power of AI. I'm still not quite sure what it means and am a bit reluctant to find out. 

Look, it's the first day of my trip. Sure, I'm tired and probably a little more cranky than usual. But my goodness, the mood in the room, he came back from anticipation to indifference, downright boring within minutes. Said it all, looks shared among us.

It is said that "Gigabyte is an AI company". Shame. I liked it more when it was, well, something else.