Lenovo to partner with multiple AI LLMs, says CFO Winston Cheng at WEF 2026

Lenovo is seeking to partner with multiple large language models (LLMs) around the world to power its devices as it aims to establish itself as a global AI player, said the company's Chief Financial Officer, Winston Cheng.

Speaking to Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Cheng emphasised that Lenovo does not intend to rely on a single AI provider. Instead, the firm is seeking partnerships with various model developers to ensure its devices, ranging from PCs to data centre servers, can run different large language models (LLMs) efficiently. 

"We are the only company besides Apple with significant market share across both PCs and mobiles, and in the open Android and Windows ecosystems," Cheng said.

In contrast to Apple, which currently works only with OpenAI and Google's Gemini, Lenovo is looking to strike deals with multiple LLM developers.

This "agnostic" approach is designed to offer corporate and individual clients greater flexibility as the AI landscape remains fragmented.

According to Cheng, potential collaborators for Lenovo include Humain in Saudi Arabia, Mistral AI in Europe, and Alibaba and DeepSeek in China.

The company's research and development focus is now firmly placed on optimising the synergy between silicon, operating systems, and diverse AI models. "We're taking an orchestrator approach," he said. "We're not doing our own LLM. We're really doing a partnership because there are regulations around the world," Cheng added.

While the company maintains a strong relationship with traditional partners, this multi-model strategy allows Lenovo to hedge against geopolitical tensions and regional regulatory differences.