Microsoft Corp. today announced that computer makers will soon start shipping Windows 11 machines with a keyboard key for launching Copilot, the operating system’s built-in artificial intelligence assistant.

Yusuf Mehdi, chief marketing officer of the company’s consumer business, detailed the hardware update in a blog post. He said the first computers with the new Copilot key are set to debut later this month. Microsoft also plans to incorporate the key into future additions to its Surface line of Windows devices.

The update marks the biggest refresh of personal computer keyboards in decades. The last major upgrade was in 1994, when Microsoft added the Windows and menu buttons. The latter key, which is usually located next to the space bar and has the same function as the right-hand button on a computer’s mouse, will be replaced by the Copilot key.

“Nearly 30 years ago, we introduced the Windows key to the PC keyboard that enabled people all over the world to interact with Windows,” Mehdi wrote. “We see this as another transformative moment in our journey with Windows where Copilot will be the entry point into the world of AI on the PC.”

The new key will only launch Copilot if the chatbot is available on the user’s Windows machine and the device is linked to a Microsoft account. Otherwise, clicking it will bring up the operating system’s built-in search tool.

The Copilot key is one of several AI-focused upgrades that Windows machines are expected to receive this year. Last month, Windows Central reported that Microsoft plans to release a new version of its operating system in the second half of 2024. The update, which is codenamed Hudson Valley, will reportedly introduce a raft of AI enhancements.

One of the features said to be in the works is a captioning tool that can generate translations for video and audio files. Another upcoming feature, dubbed Super Resolution, will reportedly automatically enhance the visual fidelity of video games. Moreover, Microsoft is said to be working on “AI-powered wallpapers” that use machine learning to generate a parallax animation effect.

The upcoming media processing features are expected to debut alongside an enhanced version of Windows’ built-in search tool. According to last month’s report, the updated tool will enable users to find a document even if they forget its file name. The file name can be substituted in search queries with a natural language description such as “find the Word document that outlines next quarter’s marketing plan.”

Microsoft’s AI vision for Windows 11 partly hinges on the next-generation consumer processors that suppliers such as Intel Corp. are currently rolling out. The chipmaker’s latest laptop processor lineup, the Meteor Lake series, features a neural processing unit optimized to speed up AI models. Qualcomm’s recently introduced Snapdragon X laptop chip ships with a similar module.

Super Resolution, the AI feature Microsoft is reportedly developing to enhance video games’ visual fidelity, is expected to run on neural processing units. The other machine learning features Windows is set to receive should also benefit from the new AI-optimized processors coming to market. The chips’ optimizations should only speed up machine learning applications but also reduce their power consumption, a particularly major benefit for laptops.

The increasing industry focus on AI is shaping the design of not only computer keyboards but also connected devices. Late last month, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. debuted a robot vacuum with AI-powered collision avoidance software. A few weeks earlier, startup Humane Inc. introduced the Ai Pin, a wearable device with an interface powered by large language models form OpenAI. 

Image: Microsoft