Max A. Cherny
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft said on Monday it will launch a new category of personal computers that can perform more artificial intelligence tasks without resorting to cloud data centers.
At an event on the campus in Redmond, Washington, CEO Satya Nadella unveiled computers he called “Copilot+”, saying Microsoft (NASDAQ:), as well as a number of partners such as Dell Technologies (NYSE:), Qualcomm (NASDAQ: :), :), Intel (NASDAQ:) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:) will help create them.
Microsoft showed off a feature called Recover that will help users find files and other data they saw on their PC, even if it was a tab open in a web browser. The company also showed off its Copilot voice assistant, which acts as a real-time virtual coach for a user playing the Minecraft video game.
Yusuf Mehdi, who heads Microsoft’s consumer marketing division, said the company expects 50 million AI-powered PCs to be purchased next year. At the press conference, he said faster AI assistants running directly on PCs would be “the most compelling reason to upgrade your PC in a long time.”
To be called a “Copilot+” PC, machines must meet minimum standards for processing power and performance, meaning they will likely sell for higher prices. Microsoft’s new “Copilot+” PC marketing category, which emphasizes artificial intelligence features, is reminiscent of the “Ultrabook” category of thin Windows laptops that Intel promoted to PC makers in 2011 to compete with Apple’s (NASDAQ:) MacBook Air.
Microsoft executives also said that GPT-4o, OpenAI’s latest technology, will be available “soon” as part of Microsoft Copilot.
Microsoft also unveiled a new generation of Surface Pro tablets and Surface laptops powered by Qualcomm-based chips. Hand Architecture of Holdings (NASDAQ:). The company also introduced Prism technology, which will help software written for Intel and AMD chips run on chips built using Arm technology.
After Intel processors dominated the personal computer market for decades, Qualcomm and other low-power Arm component makers have attempted to compete in the Windows PC market.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips include a so-called neural processor designed to accelerate artificial intelligence-focused applications such as Microsoft’s Copilot software.
Microsoft held a product event the day before the start of its annual developer conference.
Microsoft is looking to expand its lead in the race to produce artificial intelligence tools that consumers are willing to pay for. A partnership with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has put the company ahead of Alphabet (NASDAQ:) as other major tech companies look to dominate the emerging field.
Last week, OpenAI and Alphabet-owned Google demonstrated joint artificial intelligence technology that can respond via voice in real time and be interrupted, a hallmark of realistic voice conversations that AI voice assistants have found challenging. Google also announced that it is introducing several generative artificial intelligence features into its profitable search engine.
The PC industry has been under increasing pressure from Apple since the company released its own chips based on Arm designs and abandoned Intel processors. Apple-designed processors give Macs longer battery life and faster performance than competing chips that use more power.
Microsoft turned to Qualcomm to lead efforts to bring the Windows operating system to Arm processors in 2016. Qualcomm has exclusive rights to Microsoft Windows devices that are set to expire this year. Other chip designers such as Nvidia (NASDAQ:) are making efforts to create their own chips for Arm-based PCs, Reuters previously reported.