At the recent Microsoft Build event, Microsoft unveiled a series of groundbreaking updates and new hardware that showcase its commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and advancing the capabilities of Windows and Arm processors. These innovations mark a significant leap forward in how users interact with their devices and how developers can harness the power of AI. Here’s an in-depth look at these exciting new features and updates.

New Hardware: Powering the Next Generation of Computing & Copilot Runtime

Introducing the Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows

Microsoft, in collaboration with Qualcomm, has announced the powerful Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows. This developer-focused kit, powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor, is designed to provide the flexibility and power needed for everyday development tasks. Key features include:

32 GB Memory: Ensuring smooth multitasking and efficient handling of complex tasks.
80 W+ Peak TDP: Delivering robust performance for demanding applications.
4.3 GHz 12-Core CPU: Offering high-speed processing capabilities.

This dev kit supports a growing ecosystem of apps and libraries compiled natively to Windows on Arm, including major tools like Unity, Blender, Docker, and Qt. This ensures that developers have the resources they need to build and optimize their applications for Arm64.

Copilot+ PCs: AI-Powered Devices

At the special event, Microsoft introduced Copilot+ PCs, a new category of Windows PCs designed for AI. These devices are powered by advanced silicon capable of delivering 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second), offering all-day battery life, and accessing the most advanced AI models.

Key Features of Copilot+ PCs:

Local AI Processing: Run AI models directly on the device, reducing latency and improving privacy and efficiency.
Recall: Instantly access past activities and information, enabling a photographic memory-like experience.
Cocreator: Generate and refine AI images in near real-time directly on the device.
Live Captions: Translate audio from over 40 languages into English in real-time.

These experiences are available on thin, light, and beautifully designed devices from Microsoft Surface and OEM partners such as Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung. Pre-orders begin today, with availability starting on June 18, starting at $999.

Software Advancements: Transformative AI Integration

Windows Copilot Runtime

The introduction of this powerful hardware sets the stage for a new era of AI integration through Microsoft Copilot, fundamentally transforming the Windows operating system and the developer experience.

Windows Copilot Runtime is a comprehensive framework that embeds AI into every layer of Windows. This integration provides developers with the tools needed to create sophisticated AI-driven applications. The Windows Copilot Library, a key component of this runtime, offers a rich set of APIs powered by over 40 on-device models. These APIs enable features such as:

Studio Effects: Enhancing multimedia applications with advanced audio and visual effects.
Live Captions Translations: Providing real-time translation and captioning services.
OCR (Optical Character Recognition): Facilitating data extraction from images and documents.
Recall User Activity APIs: Enabling context-aware services by accessing past user activities.

Phi Silica: The Local Generative Language Model

Phi Silica, a 3.3 billion parameter transformer-based model, represents a significant AI advancement. Optimized for Neural Processing Units (NPUs) in Copilot+ PCs, Phi Silica provides local inferencing capabilities, ensuring low-latency AI performance directly on devices. This innovation enhances privacy, security, and efficiency by reducing dependency on cloud-based processing and allowing AI models to run locally.

M365 Copilot: Enhancing Productivity and Collaboration

Unified Copilot Extensions

Microsoft is unifying all Copilot extensibility concepts into a single construct called Copilot extensions. These extensions enable new actions and customized knowledge for grounding within Copilot, providing a tailored experience with the data, systems, and workflows used daily. Developers can create Copilot extensions using Microsoft Copilot Studio or Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio Code. These tools facilitate the inclusion of plugins from API endpoints and enable new user experience features, such as handoffs to other AI assistants. This new capability in Teams Toolkit is currently in preview.

Employee Self-Service with Copilot

Organizations can now elevate employee self-service by creating Copilot experiences that provide information and context from SharePoint sites. These Copilots help individuals find the files they need and answer questions based on the contents of the SharePoint site, enhancing productivity and discoverability.

Azure AI Studio is GA: Empowering Responsible AI Development

Microsoft Azure AI Studio, now generally available, is a key component of the Microsoft Copilot stack. This pro-code platform empowers responsible generative AI development, supporting complex apps and tasks like content generation, data analysis, project management, and automation of routine tasks. The seamless dual development approach includes a friendly user interface (UI) and code-first capabilities, enabling developers to choose the most accessible workflow for their projects.

Key Features of Azure AI Studio:

Code-First Development: With Azure Developer CLI (azd) and AI Toolkit for Microsoft Visual Studio Code, developers can create resources in Copilot sample repositories and facilitate large language model operations (LLMOps) as part of CI/CD solutions.
Models as a Service (MaaS): Coming soon, MaaS will allow developers to build generative AI apps using pay-as-you-go inference APIs and hosted fine-tuning. Models from innovators like Nixtla and Core42 JAIS are available in preview, with more to come.
Comprehensive AI Toolchain: This includes seamless data integration, prompt orchestration, and system evaluation to support the AI development lifecycle.
Prompt Flow and Tracing: In preview, these features support workflow orchestration for multimodal models and enhance insights into AI workflows.
Monitoring for Generative AI Apps: In preview, this feature enables organizations to monitor key token usage, quality, and operational metrics in production.

Conclusion

The Microsoft Build event highlighted a transformative shift in the tech landscape, marked by the deep integration of AI into both hardware and software. The unveiling of Copilot+ PCs, powered by advanced silicon and capable of delivering unprecedented AI performance locally, sets a new standard for what Windows PCs can achieve. These devices, equipped with features like Recall and Cocreator, offer users a seamless, intuitive, and powerful computing experience.

Moreover, the introduction of Windows Copilot Runtime and Phi Silica enhances the developer ecosystem, providing robust tools and models that facilitate the creation of sophisticated AI-driven applications. This comprehensive framework ensures that AI capabilities are deeply embedded in every layer of Windows, offering unparalleled functionality and user experience.

Microsoft’s advancements in M365 Copilot, with unified extensions and enhanced self-service capabilities, further demonstrate the potential of AI to boost productivity and streamline workflows. By making these tools accessible and customizable, Microsoft empowers organizations to tailor their AI experiences to meet specific needs and challenges.

The Azure AI Studio stands out as a cornerstone for responsible AI development, providing a pro-code platform that supports a wide range of applications and tasks. With features like code-first development, Models as a Service, and comprehensive monitoring, Azure AI Studio enables developers to innovate responsibly and efficiently.

In summary, Microsoft’s latest innovations signify a monumental step forward in AI integration, making technology more intuitive, efficient, and personalized. As AI continues to evolve, the deep integration of these advancements into devices and platforms will redefine how we interact with technology, driving a new era of productivity and creativity.

Copilot //Build keynote recap