Microsoft Copilot+ PCs: Has the AI computer revolution finally arrived?

GeekWire

Technology, Tech News, News

4.4 • 116 Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Microsoft and major PC makers this week announced a plan to incorporate artificial intelligence directly into personal computers, adding on-board neural processing units (NPUs) as part of a new architecture that promises better performance, longer battery life, and local AI processing that unlocks new capabilities and features.

We discuss the new Copilot+ PCs with our guest on this week's GeekWire Podcast, Stefan Weitz, an investor and entrepreneur who worked at Microsoft for 18 years in groups including Microsoft Bing and MSN. He is the founder of the new HumanX conference on AI taking place in March 2025 in Las Vegas.

Weitz is bullish on the potential for Copilot+ PCs to improve the overall computing experience and motivate Windows PC users to upgrade their machines, a long-awaited milestone for Microsoft's flagship operating system.

The new Copilot+ PCs have also raised security and privacy concerns, focused primarily on the "Recall" feature that takes regular screenshots of user activity on the machine, creating an index that can be queried using AI. The company released an FAQ that emphasized the underlying security and privacy controls for users, but also made it clear that the feature will be activated if users accept the defaults during initial bootup of a new machine.

Weitz also shares some of his favorite AI apps and tools, including Cleft Notes and Read AI.

Audio editing by Curt Milton.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Someone asked me when they announced the new devices, they said, do you think this is the time when they can take out the Macbook?
0:07.0	I said, I don't know about that, but I do think there is a massive refresh cycle, and there probably hasn't been, been frankly a ton of reasons to upgrade.
0:15.6	I mean the OS always gets better or the devices always get better but there hasn't been this kind of
0:20.4	watershed feature which comes out that everyone says that actually it helps my
0:24.4	performance or helps help me be a better teacher or better learned or whatever might be
0:28.8	and I think the MPUs and the co-p Plus PCs, I mean without being a fan boy because trust me I leverage plenty of criticism on Microsoft.
0:38.0	To me it felt like one of those moments where yeah this could be a massive upgrade cycle for devices across the planet.
0:44.4	Hi and welcome to GeekWire I'm
0:52.4	co-founder Todd Bishop.
0:55.7	We're coming to you from Seattle where we get to report each day on what's
0:58.7	happening around us in business, technology and innovation.
1:01.8	What happens here matters everywhere and every week on this show we talk about some of the most interesting stories in the news.
1:08.0	I'm pleased to be joined this week by Stephen White's.
1:11.0	He's a veteran of Microsoft. He worked at the company for 18 years, and he's the
1:15.4	founder of the newly launched HumanX AI Conference taking place next March in Las Vegas.
1:21.6	Stephen, it's great to have you on the show.
1:24.0	Todd, always good to be back.
1:26.0	In fact, we were just talking before we started recording.
1:28.4	You were on the GeekWire podcast back when it was a radio show in 2012 in the studio. So catch
1:36.8	us up. I'm being somewhat facetious but give us a sense. What's been going
1:41.6	on with you?
1:42.6	Wow, yeah, that's a long time.
	...

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