Lenovo announced the launch of “Lenovo AI Express”, a new path to accelerate the deployment of infrastructure dedicated to artificial intelligence, in cooperation with “NVIDIA”, with the aim of reducing the complexities of purchasing and implementation and shortening the period between selecting the infrastructure and its actual start-up.
The company says that, according to the “Lenovo 2026 CIO Playbook,” organizations that have moved from the stage of artificial intelligence experiments to implementation on a larger scale expect an average return of $2.78, for every dollar invested, while 94 percent of institutional participants expect to achieve a positive return. However, long supply lead times, integration complexity, and lack of operational readiness may delay reaching these returns.
“AI Express” relies on 3 ready-made and pre-verified configurations, designed according to the size of the models, the number of users, and the required level of performance, with the possibility of starting with a smaller configuration, then expanding as the number of agents, models, users, data size, and inference requirements grow.
3 categories according to the volume of use
The small category, according to the company, starts with a shipping period of 15 business days for eligible configurations, and targets inference tasks for dozens of users, with a speed exceeding 30 codes per second. It supports models with average sizes between 7 and 70 billion parameters, based on “Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650a V4” servers equipped with two “NVIDIA RTX 6000 PRO Blackwell Server Edition” units.
As for the medium category, it starts from 20 working days, and targets hundreds of users with higher loads for inference and agentic artificial intelligence. It covers models ranging on average from 70 to 400 billion parameters, using “ThinkSystem SR675 V3” with 8 “RTX 6000 PRO Blackwell Server Edition” units.
The large category starts from 25 working days, and is directed to large-scale generative models that serve thousands of users, with support for models of up to a trillion parameters, based on “ThinkSystem SR680a V4” and the “NVIDIA HGX B300” platform.
Wider choice of processors and software
In addition to NVIDIA graphics units, AI Express supports the latest central processor technologies from AMD and Intel, allowing organizations to choose approved configurations that suit the nature of their loads.
The architecture can also be expanded with enterprise software for artificial intelligence, including “Red Hat AI Factory with NVIDIA” or “NVIDIA AI Enterprise,” in addition to “Veeam Kasten” to protect artificial intelligence applications, data, models, and processing lines.
Lenovo places the solution within a broader framework it calls “Lenovo Hybrid AI Factory with NVIDIA,” which focuses on creating a hybrid architecture that can be expanded according to the organization’s needs, rather than building a large environment from the beginning that may exceed the actual need.
Reduce the risk of overbuilding
Ashley Gorakharwala, president of Lenovo's Infrastructure Solutions Group, said organizations are looking for a way to bring AI into production environments more quickly, without taking the risk of building an infrastructure larger than they need or facing costly delays.
The idea is to give the client a clear starting point, with the possibility of expanding later, rather than designing each project from scratch. The company says this helps make the purchasing and supply process more predictable, especially in projects that require high computing capacities or specialized graphics equipment.
Services extend to operation
“AI Express” is not limited to providing servers, as it includes a set of services that start from identifying use cases, verifying feasibility and expected return, then moving on to proving the concept, and ending with improving graphics processing unit environments in terms of performance, usage and cost.
The company also announced “Premier Support Plus for Servers,” a support service that adds proactive and predictive capabilities to detect problems early, with the aim of maintaining operational continuity in high-criticality environments.
Per Overgaard, General Manager, EMEA Infrastructure Solutions Group at Lenovo, said that organizations can start with the current most important use case, and then expand their architecture as data, workloads, and AI maturity level evolve.
Expand accreditation across partners
Lenovo is also expanding the availability of AI Express across its global partner network, through the Lenovo 360 framework, allowing channel partners to offer certified Hybrid AI Factory configurations to customers.
The company says that the program builds on the “Top Choice Express” model, which focuses on configuration flexibility, price clarity, and predictability of supply dates, while transferring the same idea to institutional AI projects.
Configuration eligibility, availability dates, and ordering mechanisms vary by region, while Lenovo indicates that the primary goal is to reduce the time required to go from choosing the architecture to running the actual AI loads, while keeping the scope open for expansion as requirements grow.
Sam Terris doesn't believe technology is inherently harmful to children. He believes the problem is that social media and smartphones were deliberately designed to make us addicted to them. Teresa is a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Nuggs, a plant-based chicken nugget brand.
Technology that develops children's independence
But, what if we could design technology that helps children develop independence, build social relationships, and stay safe?
Today, Terris is introducing a new device designed specifically to achieve this goal, the Freckle phone, which is intended for children between the ages of 7 and 13 years. Its price is $199, with a wireless subscription plan that costs $25 per month.
Arranged calls without the Internet or communication platforms
The phone does not have a web browser, application store, social media, or YouTube platform, as communication (whether via calls or text messages) is limited to contacts approved by the parents. Thanks to its tracking technology, Freckle allows parents to track their child’s location on a map, or identify “safe zones” that send an immediate alert if the child leaves their boundaries. “You can choose to track their every move, but you can also just rely on device alerts,” Terris says. The Freckle phone is currently available for pre-order, and will begin shipping next December.
A phone that kids enjoy using
Although “Freckle” was designed to allay parents’ fears, it was also designed to be fun for children, as the device features a soft texture, bright colors, and prominent tactile buttons, and its design is based on a small square touch screen.
The phone has a Discovery Camera feature that recognizes insects, birds and plants and adds them to a digital sticker album. “It's a bit like Pokémon Go, but in the real world,” Tyrese describes.
Explore nature and life
* Fun missions. Parents can send “assignments” to their children, such as finding five types of insects in the garden or photographing three Impressionist paintings at the museum.
* Wireless connection. When two children touch their devices to each other, walkie-talkie mode is activated.
* Digital wallet. The phone also includes a digital wallet that supports touch payment, which parents can charge with an amount allocated for personal expenses, so that the child can use it - for example - when buying ice cream.
Strange name
“Freckles” (meaning freckles in Arabic) is intended to evoke the atmosphere of being outdoors in the sun, and coming home to discover that the time spent outside has left a mark on the skin, says Teres. “There is a common perception that technology is associated with closed spaces and isolation, but if designed carefully, it can be an excellent way to enhance outdoor experiences and encourage positive social interaction,” he adds.
Non-addictive technology
What does non-addictive technology look like? When designing this device, Tyrese faced a difficult challenge: how to create a device that children would love without being so attractive and addictive that they would be unable to put it down. This is a problem that a growing group of companies working in the field of children's technology are trying to solve.
Tonies recently collaborated with Hasbro to transform popular board games - such as "Monopoly" and "Guess Who?" (Guess Who?) to audio games that operate via the “Toniebox” device, which does not have a screen. Likewise, the Buddy device from Skylight - a small device that helps children complete their daily tasks - features simple graphics that are intentionally designed to attract the child’s attention for only the amount of time necessary to complete the task, and no more than that.
A phone that does not interact with the digital world
For Terris, one of the guiding principles is that the device helps the child interact with the world around them. He explains: “We want the device to always invite a third party to participate, whether it is another object, another person, or the surrounding environment, as it is never a gateway to a digital world.”
Phones for children
The Freckle is part of a growing wave of phones for kids, where simplistic smartphones — such as the Gabb, Pinwheel and Troomi — lack social media platforms, web browsers and app stores. The Bark Phone - originally a Samsung Galaxy phone - scans children's messages for any signs of danger, and also provides more features as they grow older. For younger children who spend most of their time at home, there are phones that resemble traditional landlines — such as the Tin Can and Pinwheel Home — that limit calls to contacts approved by the parents. However, it is still unclear which of these phones will achieve widespread popularity; Many parents end up choosing the iPhone due to its wide spread among everyone.
