Microsoft's Copilot AI set to operate locally on PCs
Microsoft's Copilot AI service is poised to function locally on personal computers, as revealed by Intel in a recent statement to Tom's Hardware. The upcoming generation of AI PCs will necessitate built-in neural processing units (NPUs) with over 40 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of power. This capacity currently exceeds any consumer processor available in the market.
Advanced AI PCs to run more elements of Copilot locally
Intel further explained that these advanced AI PCs would be capable of running "more elements of Copilot" locally. Currently, even minor requests by Copilot operate predominantly in the cloud, leading to noticeable lag. The shift toward local computing could potentially reduce this delay, thereby improving performance and privacy.
Microsoft's next-gen AI PCs rumored to require 40 TOPS
Rumors suggest that Microsoft's next-generation AI PCs will require 40 TOPS and a modest 16GB of RAM. Currently, Windows uses NPUs primarily for video effects like background blurring for Surface Studio webcams. In contrast, ChromeOS and macOS leverage NPU power for more extensive video and audio processing features.
Qualcomm may meet Microsoft's Copilot AI requirements first
The processor with the fastest NPU speed currently is Apple's M3, offering 18 TOPS across its lineup. AMD's Ryzen 8040 and 7040 laptop chips follow with 16 and 10 TOPS respectively, while Intel's Meteor Lake laptop matches with 10 TOPS. However, Qualcomm could be the first to meet Microsoft's requirements for Copilot through its Snapdragon X Elite, which promises a whopping 45 TOPS of AI compute speed.
Intel's future plans for AI PC development
Intel's Lunar Lake chips, set to launch in 2025, will triple its current NPU speeds. The company recently introduced 300 new AI features specifically optimized for OpenVino platform. Additionally, Intel announced AI PC development kit based on ASUS NUC Pro that utilizes its current Meteor Lake silicon. "From a desktop standpoint, we have plans on the desktop side...we have all of our different steps in our roadmap on how we cover all the different segments," Intel stated to Tom's Hardware.
