new York
CNN
—
Microsoft is adding a “Copilot” key that summons an AI-powered assistant with the click of a button in its biggest update to the Windows keyboard in three decades.
The software giant said Thursday that the Copilot key will soon be available on certain new PCs made and sold by various manufacturers running the Windows operating system, thus heralding the “year of the AI PC.”
This means that with the click of a single button, PC users will soon be able to interact with Copilot, the software giant’s AI-powered chatbot, to ask questions or help compose emails.
“This will not only simplify users’ computing experience, but also amplify it, making 2024 the year of the AI PC,” Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and director of consumer marketing at Microsoft, said in a statement Press. blog post announcing the Copilot key.
The new key will ultimately “facilitate the engagement of Copilot in your daily life,” added Mehdi. Copilot, notably, is powered by OpenAI’s underlying technology after Microsoft’s launch An investment of 13 billion dollars in the AI startup.
If Copilot is not yet available in your country or is not activated on your device, pressing the Copilot key will launch Windows Search.
The new key features a Copilot ribbon logo and is located on the lower right side of the keyboard, near the spacebar and Alt button.
The addition marks the first major change to the Windows PC keyboard since Microsoft added the Windows key in 1994. The button has appeared on laptop and desktop keyboards sold by companies such as Dell, Lenovo, and HP.
Microsoft’s move was announced just ahead of next week’s CES technology convention, where more AI product updates are expected to be unveiled by a slew of companies. Over the past year, major technology companies have rushed to develop and integrate AI tools into their product line.
In the company’s blog post announcing the Copilot key, Mehdi also discussed a “significant change” coming in 2024 for Microsoft, “where AI will be seamlessly integrated into Windows, from system to silicon to equipment “.
