Qualcomm's exclusivity period for Copilot+ PCs is coming to an end. Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday that Intel's new 200V processors and AMD's Ryzen ai 300 series chips will add Copilot+ ai capabilities starting in November.
Copilot+ PCs include features like Live Captions (real-time caption generation including translations), Cocreator in Paint (cue-based image generation), image editing with Windows Studio Effects (background blur, eye contact adjustment, and auto-framing), and ai tools in Photos. Of particular interest to gamers is Auto Super Resolution, a competitor to Nvidia DLSS that boosts graphics resolution and refresh rates in real time without impacting performance.
ai-powered PCs will also include Recall, Microsoft’s searchable timeline of PC activity. This feature was delayed to improve security after an initial backlash (Who would have thought that a history of everything you do on your PC might need to be locked down as tightly as possible?). The company said the revised version of Recall would begin rolling out to beta testers in October.
Intel’s 200V series processors, introduced today, feature a powerful neural processing unit (NPU) that supports up to 48 TOPS (teraoperations per second) for locally processed ai tools and models. With up to 32GB of onboard memory, the 200V is “the most efficient x86 processor ever,” according to Intel, with 50 percent lower on-package power consumption.
Pavan Davuluri, head of Windows and devices at Microsoft, confirmed that Intel’s new chips will support Copilot+. “All designs based on Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors and running the latest version of Windows are eligible to receive Copilot+ for PC features as a free upgrade starting in November,” Davuluri said on stage at Intel’s launch event at IFA in Germany.
Meanwhile, according According to a Windows Blog post, AMD’s Ryzen ai 300 series chips, revealed earlier this summer, will also receive Copilot+ features in November. The NPUs on AMD’s chips can achieve up to 50 TOPS in ai performance and have 16 percent faster overall performance than their predecessors.
The first Copilot+ PCs arrived in June, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon x Elite chip. The initial batch of Arm-powered PCs includes laptops and 2-in-1s from Microsoft, Acer, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Asus and Dell.
