Microsoft unveils new AI-powered PCs in biggest move since Windows 95
Microsoft has channelled its launch of Windows 95 to unveil a new range of AI-powered PCs to revamp sluggish global sales and position itself ahead of Apple.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has channelled the company’s launch of Windows 95 to unveil a new range of artificial intelligence-powered personal computers – called Copilot+ PCs – in an effort to bolster sluggish global sales and smash Apple’s dominance among creatives.
Microsoft estimates that more than 50 million AI PCs – which includes its own Surface range of computers as well as the devices from major manufacturers such as Dell, Lenovo and Hewlett Packard – will be sold in the coming year. This represents more than a quarter of 2023’s overall sales.
Mr Nadella said the computers – which are thinner, lighter and brighter than previous models as well as more powerful than the latest MacBook Air – were capable of performing more than 40 AI-generated tasks on device. This means they do not need to tap into the cloud to produce a raft of automated content, including drafting emails, responses editing pictures and video, as well as providing tips on popular computer games such as Minecraft.
But the biggest changes are listed in the comparisons Mr Nadella and other Microsoft executive made plenty of comparisons to rival Apple - which started making its own chips for years ago. They say new Windows AI laptops have the features that have drawn people to MacBooks for years: long battery life and quieter and cooler running, while having the firepower that creatives demand.
The Copilot+ PCs - which are optimised for Windows using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chip - will deliver up to 22 hours of battery life while playing videos locally and up to 18 hours while browsing the web - which Microsoft says beats the latest MacBook Air by 20 per cent.
The new line-up, as its name suggests, has a suite of generative AI - also known as conversational AI given its ability to respond to basic verbal prompts - features, including a new “recall” function that is able to capture everything viewed or recorded on a PC, which Microsoft says gives users the ability to tap into “photographic memory” to help find files more easily. This also removes the need to have various web search tabs open, with Recall able to remember what you’ve looked up on the internet via few basic prompts. If that sounds too creepy, people can switch the function off.
For the more creative, the AI enhancements allow people to refine basic sketches in a variety of creative styles and edit pictures more swiftly with the Copilot+ PCs, coming with Adobe’s creative suite built-in.
Mr Nadella said the new range was designed to inject “real joy and sense of wonder back to the creation on the PC” – the global sales of which has been weak as people held off upgrading devices during the pandemic.
He was speaking at the $US3.16 trillion ($4.74 trillion) company’s renovated head “campus” at Redmond in Seattle, which includes a new cricket pitch – one of the rare fields dedicated to the sport in the US.
“It’s fantastic to be here on a beautiful spring day at our Redmond campus… right next to a cricket field. It’s fantastic,” said Mr Nadella, a self-confessed cricket tragic who has an Australian-made Kookaburra ball in his office, before turning his attention to what he described was a new category of personal computing.
“I’m reminded of another seminal moment in our history from 30 years ago in the same fields, when we talked about Windows 95. And here we are … to talk about Windows yet again in this unbelievable new era of AI.
“The pursuit has always been about how to build computers that understand us, instead of us having to understand computers and I feel like we are close to that real breakthrough. We’re entering this new era where computers not only understand us but can actually anticipate what you want.”
Mr Nadella said the AI computers – which use OpenAI’s GPT-4o model – shift from operating on the cloud to device. This would create more privacy – with user data not being used to train AI models – and reduce latency, turbocharging productivity.
He said Microsoft was taking a “partner-first approach” working with chip makers, such as Qualcomm to make the Copilot+ PCs as well as the main computer manufacturers
“On the silicon side we’re working with AMD, Intel and Qualcomm and every major OEM (original equipment manufacturer) who are part of the Windows ecosystem … to bring some of the best innovation together.”
Personal computer sales are beginning to rise again after many users held off upgrades during the pandemic.
In the three months to December 31, sales firmed 0.3 per cent compared with the same period in 2022 – arresting eight straight quarters of decline, according to Gartner. But for the entire year, global PC shipments plummeted 14.8 per cent to 241.8 million units compared with 2022.
Despite Windows PCs dominating the global market, with 90 per cent share, Microsoft’s comparisons to Apple is relevant. Apple recorded one of the biggest increases in computer sales in the three months to December 31, with its global units sold surging 7.1 per cent to 6.3 million, according to Gartner.
Microsoft recruited the world’s biggest personal computer makers – including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung – to launch the Copilot+ PCs, with the various chief executives of the manufacturers saying they were “all in”. Copilot is the name of Microsoft’s AI platform, which it has incorporated across its suite of products.
Microsoft’s investment in AI – which reportedly includes $US13bn in OpenAI – has catapulted it to become the world’s most valuable company, overtaking rival Apple earlier this year. It is aiming to further cement its AI dominance across its Windows software, the ubiquity of which sharpens the company’s competitive edge.
In the three months to March 31, Microsoft said personal computing revenue surged 17 per cent to $US15.6bn, with Windows revenue recording an 11 per cent increase.
“We believe AI will be distributed. This in turn will lead to a new category of devices that turn the world itself into a product – devices that can instantly see us, hear, reason about our intent and surroundings,” Mr Nadella said.
“For us, this vision starts with our most beloved and most widely used canvas – Windows – which is why we are introducing an entirely new class of Windows PCs, engineered to unleash the power of distributed AI.”
Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft corporate vice president and consumer chief marketing officer, said the new computers would “accelerate everything you do by 40 per cent” and were 58 per cent faster than the M3 MacBook Air.
He said the AI PC’s neural processing unit was capable of 40 trillion operations per second, compared with Apple’s M4 chip – which was unveiled earlier this month in its new iPad range – achieving 38 trillion a second.
“These improvements represent the most compelling reason to upgrade your PC in a long time. We estimate that over 50 million AI PCs will be purchased just in the next 12 months alone,” Mr Mehdi said.
“Copilot+ PCs will enable you to do things you can’t on any other PC. Easily find and remember what you have seen in your PC with Recall, generate and refine AI images in near real-time directly on the device using Cocreator, and bridge language barriers with live captions, translating audio from 40+ languages into English.”
Mr Mehdi said the Recall feature aimed to solve one of the “most frustrating problems” people encounter daily – finding something on a PC.
“Today, we must remember what file folder it was stored in, what website it was on, or scroll through hundreds of emails trying to find it.
“Now with Recall, you can access virtually what you have seen or done on your PC in a way that feels like having photographic memory. Copilot+ PCs organise information like we do – based on relationships and associations unique to each of our individual experiences. This helps you remember things you may have forgotten so you can find what you’re looking for quickly and intuitively by simply using the cues you remember.”
The New Copilot+ PCs from the main computer brands available from June 18, starting at $US999.
The author travelled to Seattle as a guest of Microsoft.
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