Microsoft has made public the most significant alteration to its keyboards in a span of three decades by introducing a dedicated key specifically for artificial intelligence (AI). This newly implemented shortcut will grant users access to Copilot, Microsoft’s AI tool, on the latest PCs running Windows 11. The corporation, which was founded by Bill Gates, holds a substantial stake in OpenAI, the entity responsible for powering Copilot. Moreover, Microsoft has already seamlessly integrated AI into various other products such as Microsoft 365 and Bing search as of 2023. In the announcement article, Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President, described this development as a “revolutionary” moment, drawing parallels to the addition of the Windows key nearly 30 years ago. He further emphasized that this new feature aims to “streamline” and “enhance” the overall user experience.
The rollout of these new keyboards is anticipated to commence with Microsoft products starting in February. Furthermore, the company plans to showcase selected products equipped with Copilot access at the upcoming CES, one of the premier tech events scheduled to kick off next week in Las Vegas. With the integration of Copilot into Office 365 products such as Word, PowerPoint, and Teams, users are empowered to condense meeting summaries, draft emails, and craft presentations more efficiently.
Despite Google’s dominance as the world’s largest search engine, boasting its own AI system named Bard, it was Microsoft’s collaboration with OpenAI that introduced the potent AI tool ChatGPT in 2022, prompting competitors to swiftly launch their iterations. Copilot, which builds upon the GPT-4 language model also developed by OpenAI, continues to revolutionize the landscape of AI-powered assistance. Moreover, the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI is under scrutiny by the UK’s competition watchdog following a series of executive changes that solidified the ties between the two entities.
