San Francisco ? The world’s two biggest personal computer makers are locked in a pricey struggle over which can move away from the PC business the fastest.

Hewlett-Packard Co. offered $1.5 billion on Monday for 3Par Inc., a company whose data-storage machines are designed for “cloud computing,” or delivering services over the Internet. HP’s rival, Dell Inc., last week offered about $400 million less for 3Par, and many analysts and investors expect Dell to make a sweeter counteroffer.

HP’s offer comes just weeks after HP CEO Mark Hurd’s ouster over inaccurate expense reports and shows that the company is committed to continuing to grow through acquisitions, even without him at the helm.

The willingness to spend so much money on such an obscure company underscores how aggressively both companies are about moving into more profitable markets than PCs.

Cloud computing is one of those markets.

It has caught on because many companies aren’t buying their own computer servers for certain tasks anymore. Instead, they’re paying to have software they would have stored on those machines delivered to them over the Internet.

Companies such as Dell and HP are trying to take advantage of the trend by offering those kinds of cloud-computing services directly on a subscription basis, along with the equipment and software for customers to build their own cloud systems.

One problem, though, is the machines needed to run such operations are designed to be shared by multiple customers. Those machines need to ramp up or scale down their output quickly based on demand. Storage machines offered by 3Par could help cut the cost of operating those services because they are designed for such tasks.

Other notable business news:

• In its single biggest repayment of bailout loans so far, American International Group Inc. said Monday it is paying back nearly $4 billion in taxpayer aid with proceeds from a recent debt sale.

The insurer’s aircraft leasing company, International Lease Finance Corp., completed the sale of $4.4 billion in debt. AIG will use more than $3.9 billion of the proceeds to trim the balance on its credit line with the Fed to about $15 billion.