UPDATE 2-Microsoft highlights 'Copilot ' PCs ahead of developer conference

tech.hindustantimes.com:

By Max A. Cherney

SEATTLE, - Microsoft said on Monday it would introduce a new category of personal computer capable of handling more artificial-intelligence tasks without calling on cloud data centers.

At the event on its campus in Redmond, Washington, Chief Executive Satya Nadella introduced what he dubbed "Copilot " PCs, saying that Microsoft as well as a range of partners such as Dell Technologies, Qualcomm, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices would help build them.

Microsoft showed a feature called "Recall," which will help users find files and other data that they have seen on their PC, even if it was a tab opened in a Web browser. The company also demonstrated its Copilot voice assistant acting as a real-time virtual coach to a user playing the "Minecraft" video game.

Yusuf Mehdi, who heads up consumer marketing for Microsoft, said the company expects that 50 million AI PCs will be purchased over the next year. At the press event, he said faster AI assistants that run directly on a PC will be "the most compelling reason to upgrade your PC in a long time."

Microsoft executives also said that GPT-4o, the latest technology from OpenAI, will "soon" be available as part of Microsoft Copilot.

Analysts expect Microsoft to introduce a new generation of its own Surface Pro tablet and Surface Laptop that will feature Qualcomm chips based on Arm Holdings' architecture.

After Intel's processors dominated the personal computer market for decades, Qualcomm and other makers of lower-power Arm components have tried to compete in the Windows-PC market.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips include a so-called neural processing unit that is designed to accelerate AI-focused applications, such as Microsoft's Copilot software.

Microsoft held the product event a day before the start of its annual developer conference.

Microsoft aims to extend its early advantage in the race to produce AI tools that consumers are willing to pay for. Its partnership with ChatGPT maker