News College/University

Intel Brings AI PCs to Arizona State University Football

Collaboration makes ASU the first Division I NCAA football program to deploy a fleet of AI PCs, with recruiting, football operations, and creative content production among the initial use cases.

by SportsBiz AI

Updated April 03, 2026

Intel is bringing AI PCs to Arizona State University football, with ASU set to become the first Division I NCAA football program to deploy a fleet of AI PCs during the 2025-26 offseason. According to Intel, the program is using Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 Gen 1 devices powered by Intel Core Ultra processors and the Intel vPro platform to evaluate how on-device AI can support coaches, players, and staff.

The rollout is focused on three initial areas inside the football program. Intel said those include recruiting analytics and talent identification, football operations and analytics, and creative and digital media production. In practice, that means ASU is evaluating AI-assisted film and data analysis for recruiting, on-device tools for game preparation and postseason evaluation, and AI-enabled workflows for highlight generation, video tagging, and real-time content creation tied to fan engagement.

The announcement also puts a spotlight on on-device AI rather than cloud-only workflows. Intel said the AI PCs include a built-in neural processing unit that can run AI workloads locally, which it says supports privacy and compliance requirements while delivering insights directly on the device. That point is especially relevant in a college athletics environment where recruiting data, team operations, and institutional protocols all carry additional sensitivity.

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“College football is as much about preparation and strategy as it is about raw talent. By giving our staff access to Intel-powered AI PCs, we’re arming them with tools to identify recruits faster, break down and visualize game data, and engage fans in ways that weren’t possible before. It’s about gaining an edge, and we believe this technology can help us do that.” – Graham Rossini, Arizona State athletics director.

Intel framed the deployment as part of a broader relationship with ASU that has already included collaboration in semiconductor education and workforce development. This latest step extends that partnership into athletics, with the football program serving as a live operating environment to test how AI PCs can affect preparation, workflow efficiency, and performance across the program.

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“AI PCs are changing how work gets done — not just in the office, but on the field. By putting AI computing power directly in the hands of programs like ASU football, we’re helping them unlock faster insights and new efficiencies in the moments that matter most.” – Jen Larson, General Manager, Commercial Client Segments at Intel.

For the sports business market, the ASU deployment is another example of AI moving beyond software pilots and into day-to-day workflows inside teams and athletic departments. In this case, the focus is not just fan-facing activation. It is also recruiting, analytics, content production, and operational decision-making, all centered around hardware designed to run AI tasks locally.