American software maker Microsoft says it will release new computer models with built-in artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
The new computers will be equipped with a new version of Microsoft’s existing AI tool, called Copilot. Copilot can operate across a series of Microsoft business products.
The Copilot service is based on OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool, which launched in late 2022. ChatGPT is an AI tool designed to interact smoothly with humans and perform high-level writing and creative work. Such tools are also known as chatbots or generative AI.
Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI. It is providing computing power and support for ChatGPT’s operations.
Microsoft recently introduced the new tools at an event at its headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Chief executive Satya Nadella announced that the new computers will come loaded with the new Copilot+ system. The company said these new Windows-based PCs – which it calls “AI-ready” – will be “the fastest, most intelligent” ever built.
The event came one day before Microsoft’s yearly developer conference. That is where Microsoft introduces its latest new products and services to developers and the public.
The announcement is Microsoft’s latest move to deploy OpenAI’s technology through Copilot to many product offerings. The system is already available for the company’s Teams, Outlook, Bing search engine and Windows operating system.
Microsoft said its AI-based PCs will start being released on June 18 on the company’s own Surface models. It will also be on PCs produced by partners. These include Lenovo, Dell, Acer and HP.
"These improvements provide the most compelling reason to upgrade your PC in a long time," said Microsoft Vice President Yusuf Mehdi.
Microsoft said the AI operations on the new PCs will take place on the device itself rather than a cloud server. This means users will not have to wait for information to be sent to and from the company’s data centers or pay extra money for this service.
Microsoft has also promised that any tracking activity will only be done and saved on the device, not on company servers. Users will also be able to choose not to be tracked, the company added.
The Copilot+ AI offerings include live language translation and image creation. It also offers the ability to interact with the PCs through voice commands instead of clicking to perform certain jobs.
The new offerings also include a tool called Windows Recall. This gives the Copilot+ assistant what Microsoft describes as a “photographic memory” of a person's computer activity. The tool is designed to remember the things a user does on the PC in an effort to predict what the user might want to do next.
It's a step toward machines that “instantly see us, hear, reason about our intent and our surroundings,” Microsoft’s Nadella said. He added: “We’re entering this new era where computers not only understand us, but can actually anticipate what we want and our intent."
Nadella's announcement on AI comes shortly after some other major technology players announced new releases of their latest AI assistance systems.
Last week, Google introduced an improved search engine that shows brief AI-produced results before direct website links. The company also showed off an AI assistant called Astra, which is still in development. Astra is designed to be able to “see” and talk about things shown through a smartphone’s camera.
OpenAI introduced its latest chatbot version, ChatGPT-4o last week. Company officials demonstrated the new tool, which showed improved human characteristics that can give opinions about things. The new version also comes with tools that aim to judge a person’s emotions.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
