A new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot button is being added by Microsoft to select Windows keyboards in an effort to make it easier for people to participate in what the firm dubbed “the AI transformation.”
Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer for consumer products, announced in a blog post on Thursday that starting this month, certain personal computers running Windows 11 would feature redesigned keyboards with a “Copilot key” that starts Microsoft’s AI companion.
“Making 2024 the year of the AI PC,” as Mehdi puts it, the new key represents the first significant overhaul of the Windows PC keyboard in almost thirty years.
“Nearly 30 years ago, we introduced the Windows key to the PC keyboard that enabled people all over the world to interact with Windows,” the executive said. “We see this as another transformative moment in our journey with Windows where Copilot will be the entry point into the world of AI on the PC.”
Later this month, at the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas, the Copilot button will be presented. However, Microsoft has not disclosed which computer manufacturers will be including the Copilot button.
According to the business, customers should be able to access the key on select devices from its own range later this month, including forthcoming Surface tablets.
Microsoft has made investments in OpenAI, and the two businesses are closely associated.
