Veteran technology journalist Ed Bott has “seen things,” after more than 30 years of covering Microsoft and the PC industry, and he recognizes a pattern in the company’s latest AI features for Windows.
It’s part of a high-stakes effort to put Windows at the center of the next big platform shift — attempting to avoid what happened to the company in the mobile revolution, while learning lessons from its rocky early rollout of the Recall AI feature for Copilot+ PCs.
“Probably the single most important thing to know about Microsoft is that when they do something and fail at it, they don’t just bury it,” he said. “They’ll deal with it for a while, and then they’ll come back and they’ll try to do it again in a different way.”
Ed joins the GeekWire Podcast to analyze this latest bet, digging into the new “Hey Copilot” voice commands, the promise and security risks of “Copilot Actions” that can work on your local files, and Microsoft’s strategic shift to bring AI features to all Windows 11 PCs, not just the premium Copilot+ PC models.
“I hear from a lot of people who say, ‘Please stop putting AI in everything. I don’t need it. I don’t want it,’” he said. And yet, Microsoft has a business imperative to make AI unavoidable, because the company believes that its long-term success depends on it.
We also discuss whether users will ever really want to talk to their computers, and the timing of it all, right as Windows 10 support comes to an end.
Ed Bott on ZDNet:
- Microsoft debuts its next big high-stakes feature in Windows — can you trust it?
- Windows 10 PC can’t be upgraded? You have 5 options – and must act now
Microsoft announcement: Making every Windows 11 PC an AI PC
GeekWire coverage:
- Microsoft’s new AI features aim to give Windows a voice and mind of its own
- A new era for Windows: Can Microsoft’s longtime engine power another tech revolution?
With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop
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