Generative AI
Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs have built-in generative AI capabilities
Microsoft has unveiled a new category of Windows PCs called Copilot+ at a special event held at their campus in Redmond, Washington. These PCs are designed to handle more AI tasks locally, thanks to powerful hardware that includes dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) capable of at least 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS).
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella introduced the Copilot+ PCs, calling them “the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built.” The company has partnered with major PC manufacturers like Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, and Samsung, as well as chipmakers Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD to bring these devices to market.
The first wave of Copilot+ PCs will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series chips and are launching on June 18, with prices starting at $999 (around 80,000). The firsts come from the house of Microsoft – Surface Laptop and Surface Pro — both available in the choices of Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Pro.
Copilot+ PCs will feature a range of new AI experiences, including “Recall,” which allows users to find files and data using natural language prompts, and an enhanced version of Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot,, that will support OpenAI’s GPT-4o model. The company says that this is made possible by including over 40 AI models in a new Windows 11 layer that is deeply integrated with the hardware.
Microsoft is also touting improved performance and battery life for Copilot+ PCs, claiming they are up to 58% faster than Apple’s MacBook Air with an M3 processor and can deliver up to 22 hours of local video playback or 15 hours of web browsing on a single charge. To achieve the Copilot+ designation, PCs must have at least 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage in addition to the dedicated NPU.
As part of the push for Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft has rebuilt Windows 11 for Arm-based chips and developed an emulator called Prism to ensure compatibility with older apps.
Microsoft has been trying to make Arm-based Windows PCs a success for some time, and the introduction of Copilot+ PCs comes as a crucial step for the Redmond giant in that direction.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella introduced the Copilot+ PCs, calling them “the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built.” The company has partnered with major PC manufacturers like Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, and Samsung, as well as chipmakers Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD to bring these devices to market.
The first wave of Copilot+ PCs will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series chips and are launching on June 18, with prices starting at $999 (around 80,000). The firsts come from the house of Microsoft – Surface Laptop and Surface Pro — both available in the choices of Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Pro.
Copilot+ PCs will feature a range of new AI experiences, including “Recall,” which allows users to find files and data using natural language prompts, and an enhanced version of Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot,, that will support OpenAI’s GPT-4o model. The company says that this is made possible by including over 40 AI models in a new Windows 11 layer that is deeply integrated with the hardware.
Microsoft is also touting improved performance and battery life for Copilot+ PCs, claiming they are up to 58% faster than Apple’s MacBook Air with an M3 processor and can deliver up to 22 hours of local video playback or 15 hours of web browsing on a single charge. To achieve the Copilot+ designation, PCs must have at least 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage in addition to the dedicated NPU.
As part of the push for Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft has rebuilt Windows 11 for Arm-based chips and developed an emulator called Prism to ensure compatibility with older apps.
Microsoft has been trying to make Arm-based Windows PCs a success for some time, and the introduction of Copilot+ PCs comes as a crucial step for the Redmond giant in that direction.
