Microsoft announces new PCs with AI chips from Qualcomm

Microsoft
is
touting
new
computers
with
advanced
chips
designed
to
run
artificial
intelligence
features
of
software
for
Windows,
without
quickly
using
up
battery
life.

The
company
on
Monday
announced
a
Surface
Laptop
and
a
Surface
Pro
tablet
with
a


Qualcomm
chip
that
can
run
some
AI
tasks
without
an
internet
connection.
Other
computer
makers
like
Lenovo,
Dell,
HP,
Asus,
Acer
and
Samsung
are
also
launching
AI-ready
PCs
powered
by
Qualcomm’s
Snapdragon
X
Elite
and
X
Plus
processors,
which
promise
longer
battery
life
and
will
run
Microsoft’s
Copilot
AI
chatbot.

Device
makers
will
release
PCs
with


AMD
and
Intel
chips
that
will
adhere
to
the
Copilot+
standard
at
a
later
time,
Microsoft
said
during
a
press
keynote
address
on
its
campus
in
Redmond,
Washington.
The
PCs
will
be
able
to
translate
audio,
recommend
responses
to
incoming
messages
and
suggest
changes
in
the
Settings
app,
and
even
talk
with
people
about
what’s
on
screen.

Copilot+
PCs
will
start
at
$999.
Microsoft
is
accepting
pre-orders
as
of
Monday,
and
the
devices
will
become
available
in
June.

A
Recall
feature
will
be
able
to
search
through
a
log
of
previous
actions
on
PCs.
Recall
relies
on
AI
models
that
run
directly
on
the
device,
so
it
can
run
offline,
and
an
index
of
the
data
never
goes
to
remote
servers.
AI
models
will
be
able
to
generate
images
based
on
written
descriptions
as
well
as
drawings.

Microsoft
is
banking
on
Qualcomm’s
energy-efficient


Arm-based
chips
that
can
handle

AI
models
to
defend
its
Windows
franchise.


Apple
has
gained
market
share
in
PC
shipments
with
MacBooks
containing
its
Arm-based
chips,
having
moved
away
from


Intel,
the
top
provider
of
computer
processors.

Microsoft
is
expanding
its
effort
to
surround
consumers
and
business
users
with
ChatGPT-like
capabilities.
OpenAI,
backed
by
Microsoft,
released
the
ChatGPT
chatbot
in
late
2022,
and
it
took
off
as
a
tool
for
quickly
obtaining
computer-generated
poems,
email
drafts
and
summaries
of
historical
events.

Other
large
technology
companies,
including
Microsoft,
soon
started
augmenting
their
products
with
generative
AI.
A
Copilot
chatbot
drawing
on
ChatGPT’s
underlying
AI
models
came
to
the
Bing
search
engine,
along
with
the
Windows
10
and
11
operating
systems.
Those
with
Office
productivity
software
subscriptions
could
pay
extra
to
have
a
Copilot
refer
to
their
documents
for
written
responses.

The
GPT-4
model
inside
ChatGPT
has
only
done
its
necessary
computing
work
in
Microsoft’s
Azure
cloud.
The
new
PCs
can
run
some
AI
models
locally
without
an
internet
connection.

The
launch
comes
nearly
four
months
after
Microsoft
CEO

Satya
Nadella
told
analysts
on
the
company’s
earnings
call
that
“in
2024,
AI
will
become
a
first-class
part
of
every
PC.”

Microsoft
has
had
little
success
in
getting
people
to
adopt
Arm-based
Windows
computers,
which
haven’t
always
performed
as
well
as
PCs
running
Intel
or


AMD
chips.
Certain
applications
have
been
incompatible.

Running
generative
AI
locally
means
computers
will
need
more
power,
and
strong
battery
life
becomes
more
critical.
That
might
make
Windows
on
Arm
more
compelling.

Analysts
with
Morgan
Stanley
expect
Arm
systems
to
be
14%
of
all
Windows
PC
shipments
in
2026,
up
from
0%
in
2023,
according
to
a
note
distributed
to
clients
earlier
this
month.

Microsoft
shares
closed
up
1.2%
Monday
afternoon
to
$425.34,
just
shy
of
a
record
reached
in
March.
Qualcomm
rose
2%
to
$197.76
for
a
record
close.