When AI PCs first hit the market back in early 2024, Microsoft led the initiative with its hyped-up Copilot+ PC branding. The “Copilot+ PC” label was reserved for Windows machines that met minimum specs for running local AI features: an NPU with 40+ TOPS, at least 16GB of RAM, and at least 256GB of SSD storage, plus Windows 11 24H2 or later.
But it seems the end is nigh for the whole Copilot+ PC movement.
Windows Central reports that Microsoft’s newest 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop, which were recently showcased at the Snapdragon Summit, both meet the hardware requirements for the Copilot+ PC badge… yet neither of them flaunts it.
Microsoft’s Surface chief, Brett Ostrom, says that the two devices will not be referred to as Copilot+ devices, which would be a strange move if Microsoft intended to keep pushing the label.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s SVP of compute and gaming, Kedar Kondap, reportedly told Windows Central that the Copilot+ PC badge is unlikely to be used in the future.
The writing has been on the wall for a while now. Windows 11’s Copilot+ AI features were never well-received, feeling like early tech demos when they first launched and newer advancements failing to catch on. A year after debut, we explored all the ways Copilot+ PCs still needed to improve if the movement was going to succeed. That didn’t quite happen.
Late last year, Microsoft was seemingly pushing all Windows 11 PCs to become AI PCs regardless of whether or not they qualify as Copilot+ PCs. Then earlier this year, Microsoft exercised deep reflection and came to the conclusion that maybe the right move is to pull back on its AI ambitions in Windows 11 and scale back on AI integration. To add insult to injury, reports suggest that no one is using Microsoft’s Copilot AI.
Put it all together and it almost seems inevitable that Copilot+ would be sunset, if not this year then next.
Note, however, that Ostrum didn’t say Microsoft is abandoning AI altogether: “[The new Surface Pro and Laptop] are not called Copilot+ PCs, [but] they do meet all the requirements of our previous bar for what Copilot+ devices are. We still lean into the narrative around AI on the edge and being able to have a hybrid solution out there.”
