Veteran technology journalist Ed bot “seen things” After more than 30 years covering Microsoft and the PC industry, and he recognizes a pattern in the company’s latest AI features for Windows.
It’s part of a high-profile effort to put Windows at the center of the next big platform shift — trying to avoid what happened to the “Microsoft’s big Windows AI bet” company in the mobile revolution, while learning from the rocky rollout of the Recall AI feature for Copilot+ PCs.
PC platform shift
“Probably the most important thing to know about Microsoft is that when they do something and fail at it, they don’t just bury it,” he said. “They’ll deal with it for a while, and then they’ll come back and they’ll try to do it again in a different way.”
Ed joins the GeekWire podcast to analyze the new “Hey Copilot” voice command, the promise and security risks of “Copilot Actions” that can act on your local files, and Microsoft’s strategic shift to bring AI features to all Windows 11 PCs, not just “Microsoft’s big Windows AI bet” Premium Copilot + PC models.
“I’ve heard from a lot of people who say, ‘Please stop putting AI in everything. I don’t need it. I don’t want it,'” he said. And yet, Microsoft has a business imperative to make AI inevitable, because the company believes its long-term success depends on it.
We also discuss whether or not users will really want to talk to their computer, and all this with the end of Windows 10 support.
Ad Bot on ZDNet:
- Microsoft has debuted its next big high-stakes feature in Windows — can you believe it?
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Microsoft announcement:Making every Windows 11 PC an AI PC
GeekWire coverage:
- Microsoft’s new AI features aim to “Microsoft’s big Windows AI bet” give Windows a voice and mind of its own
- A new era for Windows: Could Microsoft’s long-running engine usher in another technology revolution?
With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop