Microsoft wants to bring genetic AI to the forefront of Windows — and the computers that run it.
In a keynote ahead of its annual Build developer conference this week, the company unveiled a new line of Windows machines it’s calling Copilot+ PCs, as well as AI-powered productivity features like Recall, which helps users find apps, files and other content they’ve seen. in the past. Copilot, Microsoft’s brand for building artificial intelligence, will soon be integrated much deeper into the Windows 11 experience. And new Microsoft Surface devices are on the way.
We’ve gathered all the important announcements here.
Copilot+ computers
Copilot+ PCs are Microsoft’s vision for AI-first, flagship Windows hardware. All include dedicated chips called NPUs to power AI experiences like Recall. And they ship with a minimum of 16GB of RAM, coupled with SSD storage.
The first Copilot+ PCs will pack Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips, which Microsoft claims offer up to 15 hours of web browsing and 20 hours of video battery life. Chipmakers Intel and AMD are also committed to building processors for Copilot+ devices in partnership with a range of manufacturers, including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung.
Copilot+ computers start at $999 and some are available for pre-order today.
Surface Pro and Surface Laptop
The recently introduced Surface devices, Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, focus on performance and battery.
The latest Surface Laptop — available with a 13.8- or 15-inch display — has been redesigned with “modern lines” and thinner display bezels. It lasts up to 22 hours on a charge and is up to 86% faster than the Surface Laptop 5, the company says. It also supports Wi-Fi 7 and has a haptic feedback touchpad.
As for the new Surface Pro, Microsoft says it’s up to 90% faster than the previous generation Surface Pro (the Surface Pro 9) and features a new OLED with HDR display, Wi-Fi 7 (and optional 5G) and upgraded ultra-wide front camera. Also, the detachable keyboard – which has been reinforced with additional carbon fiber – now has haptic feedback.
Recall
Windows 11’s upcoming Recall feature can “remember” apps and content a user accessed on their PC weeks or even months ago, for example helping them find a Discord chat where they were discussing clothes they were considering buying. Users can use the Recall timeline to “scroll back” to see what they were working on in the recent past and analyze files such as PowerPoint presentations to reveal information that may be relevant to their searches.
Microsoft says that Recall can create associations between colors, images and more to let users search for almost anything on their PC in natural language (not dissimilar to the startup’s Rewind technology). And the company claims that all user data related to Recall is kept private and on-device — and not used to train AI models, notably.
Here is more from Microsoft: “Your snapshots are yours. they remain local to your computer. You can delete individual snapshots, adjust and delete time ranges from Settings, or pause at any point directly from the System Tray icon on your taskbar. You can also filter apps and websites so that they are never saved.”
Image editing and live translations
Now there’s more AI in Windows than ever before, and some of it exclusive to the new Copilot+ PCs.
A new feature called Super Resolution can bring back old photos by automatically upscaling them. And Copilot can now analyze images to give users ideas for creative compositions. Through a feature called Cocreator, users can create images and also ask the AI model to follow what they’re drawing to alter or restyle the image.
Elsewhere, Live Captions with Live Translations translates any audio coming through a computer — whether from YouTube or a local file — into the language of the user’s choice. Live translations will initially support around 40 languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin and Russian.
Windows Copilot Runtime
Features like Recall and Super Resolution are the Windows Copilot Runtime, a collection of ~40 AI models built from what Microsoft describes as “a new layer” of Windows. Combined with semantic indexing, a vector-based system local to a single Copilot+ PC, the Windows Copilot Runtime enables AI-powered applications – including third-party applications – to run without necessarily requiring an Internet connection.
Microsoft says CapCut, the popular video editor from TikTok owner ByteDance, will use the Windows Copilot Runtime to accelerate AI functions.
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