NVIDIA marked the global availability of RTX Spark laptops with retail launch events in six cities on October 16, 2026, according to a company recap published October 17. The Berlin gathering drew the most attention after founder and CEO Jensen Huang made a surprise appearance, handed out popcorn, posed for selfies and gave away five personally signed laptops. The coordinated rollout matters because it puts local-AI laptops from six major PC makers into stores at once.
How the six-city retail rollout worked
In Berlin, fans gathered hours ahead at XPERION inside the Saturn store at Alexanderplatz 3, where the celebration ran from 7 p. m. to 10:30 p. m. with hands-on demos and stage programming featuring creators and developers, and registration was required. Attendees tested RTX Spark laptops from PC makers for gaming, content-creation workflows and local AI capabilities, and NVIDIA noted that even a cosplayer dressed as Geralt waited in line. The Berlin TV Tower carried RTX Spark-themed lighting during the event.
The RTX Spark superchip combines an NVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU with an NVIDIA Grace CPU and up to 128GB of unified memory. NVIDIA says the chip delivers up to 1 petaflop of FP4 AI performance for local workloads. That architecture is positioned to run gaming, creative tools and on-device AI from the same memory pool, rather than relying only on cloud processing. NVIDIA also pointed developers and enthusiasts to tested recipes, playbooks and resources for running local AI on these systems.
The Berlin date coincided with the Festival of Lights, the annual autumn art festival that turns landmarks, streets and squares into illuminated displays. Other cities used different formats and entry rules. San Francisco met at Best Buy at 1717 Harrison Street from 10 a. m. to 12 p. m. with free first-come entry and an appearance by iJustine plus fireside talks with founders. Beijing used WeChat registration at JD MALL Beijing Shuangjing Store, while Istanbul and Seoul allowed walk-in entry and Taipei required registration.
What the launch means for AI laptop buyers
The launch lineup makes RTX Spark available globally from ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft and MSI through their websites and major retailers, with more systems to follow. Named models include ASUS ProArt P14 and P16, Dell XPS 16, HP OmniBook Ultra and OmniBook X 14, Lenovo Yoga Pro 9n, Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra, and MSI Prestige N16 Flip AI+ and Prestige N16. For companies, that means a choice of vendors and form factors from day one instead of a single reference design. Small teams gain retail access, while large buyers can compare configurations across suppliers.
Pricing and event access still need careful checking before purchase decisions. The October 16 availability release listed laptops starting at $2,599 with pricing and configurations varying by region, while the celebration recap states a $2,399 starting price. Entry terms also differed by city, from required registration in Berlin and Taipei to walk-in access in Istanbul and Seoul. This news alone does not confirm sustained stock levels, regional configurations, or measured performance in specific business software, so buyers should ask vendors about memory options, warranty and local support.
The marker to watch is whether additional RTX Spark systems arrive after the first eight named models and how consistently stores carry them across regions. NVIDIA also runs an online campaign under offering an ASUS ProArt P14 signed by Huang for stories about a first Windows PC. If the vendor list expands and local-AI guides mature, the launch will signal a stable retail category rather than a one-day showcase.
