It’s been two years since Microsoft introduced its Copilot+ branding, which defined the AI capabilities of its latest Surface and Surface Pro devices, but now it seems that marketing decision has changed direction. Windows Central Insider attended Qualcomm’s Snapdragon event in Hawaii, where Microsoft debuted its latest lineup of Surface products. While there, it was noticed that the Copilot+ branding, which had been very prominently included in previous marketing materials, was largely absent this year. Now Copilot+ got off to a rough start after being announced when researchers discovered its user assistant recall feature was virtually a security nightmare. Recall was meant to be a feature to help forgetful users find various items on their PC without having to do extensive searching, but its initial rollout was far from being secure. Two years later, it seems that perhaps Windows users are just not interested in added onboard AI features and are more comfortable using online offerings instead, or not at all.
Since 2024, mentions of Copilot+, which once denoted a PC with added AI processing power, often provided by a neural processing unit (NPU), have decreased significantly. NVIDIA has avoided using it completely with its new RTX Spark devices that are heavily focused on AI functionality for productivity and gaming, and it appears that Microsoft’s other partner, Qualcomm, is also stepping back from the branding. Windows Central Insider interviewed both Surface CVP Brett Ostrum on the matter, who said regarding the latest Surface products, “these are not called Copilot+ PCs,” as well as Qualcomm SVP of compute, Kedar Kondap, who elaborated more on what the branding was initially for and why it’s no longer being focused on:
“”the purpose for Copilot+ PCs was to be able to deliver [NPU] experiences. So it was to define a certain category of devices with a certain bar and metric, like for example, a 45 TOPS NPU … So from that perspective, it’s more offering the same experiences, probably without just using [Copilot+ PC] terminology now.”
– Kendar Kodnap, Qualcomm Senior Vice President of compute
AI continues to play a major role, with data centers consuming components such as memory, storage, and GPUs, but it seems PC manufacturers are no longer interested in using Microsoft’s branding, at least for now. From OpenAI to ChatGPT or Claude, there are plenty of options for those seeking to use AI, but it appears that Copilot+ is on the way out the door, at least in 2026-2027 anyway.
Discussion
Join Discussion →No replies yet. Be the first to reply on the forum.