Microsoft unveils AI updates for Windows PCs

Microsoft (MSFT) is bringing major updates to its Copilot artificial intelligence platform for Windows, expanding the software’s capabilities with a number of new features, and introducing the ability to speak directly to the AI helper.

The announcements, which the company made at a press event at its Microsoft Experience Center in New York on Tuesday, also include a context-aware Click to Do option that provides you with tools and actions to complete tasks related to what you see on your screen, a refreshed version of Windows Search, the ability to upscale your old photos to up to 8K resolution, and an AI-powered edit tool for erasing or adding objects to your images.

The company also said it’s working on a feature called Copilot Vision, which is able to view your Edge browser screen and understand questions you ask about what you’re looking at.

All of these options come as Microsoft continues its AI push on both the consumer and enterprise sides of its business. The company launched its first wave of Copilot+ PCs in May, including its own Surface line of laptops and devices from partner companies including Dell, HP, and Lenovo.

In addition to its announcements on Tuesday, Microsoft also said it’s preparing to roll out its previously delayed Recall feature for Windows 11. Recall is designed to capture screenshots of what you’re doing on your computer, providing you with a kind of continuously updated visual library of the apps you’ve used and websites you’ve visited.

Security researchers, however, objected to the app saying hackers could exploit it to steal user information. Microsoft has since updated the offering, saying it’s improved its overall security and made it an opt-in service.

The new Click to Do feature provides you with a context-aware set of options to complete tasks for what you’re looking at on your screen. Press the Windows key, and then click the mouse, and you’ll get a pop-up toolbox that will let you do things like remove or blur the background in a photo or perform a visual search using Bing. Microsoft says the feature will also work with text, helping you to rewrite or summarize what you’ve written.

The improved Windows Search feature now allows you to search for files and photos using descriptions of what they may include rather than their actual names. So, if you’re looking for a file about an article you’ve written about new Microsoft features, you can search using something like “new Microsoft updates” and Search should pull up the right file.

Story continues

Microsoft’s improved photo editing and image upscaling will help you take out unwanted objects from your photos, while Super resolution in Photos will improve the look of your older images, so you can grab those old shots you took on your first-generation iPhone and make them look like you shot them on the latest iPhone 16.

Then there’s Copilot Vision, which Microsoft says will only be available to a select set of Pro subscribers through Copilot Labs for now. During a pre-recorded demo, Microsoft showed how a user could speak to Copilot about shows they might want to watch while browsing the Rotten Tomatoes web page. The AI is able to look at the screen and make suggestions about what it sees, explaining to the user why they might enjoy certain TV shows or movies.

Microsoft says nothing is saved from your conversations with Copilot Vision after you end the session and the company won’t train its AI using your chats.

All of these updates come ahead of the all-important holiday shopping season. Adding new AI features just as PC sales are beginning to take off again should help drive consumers to Microsoft Copilot+ PCs. But Apple’s (AAPL) own Apple Intelligence is also set to land on its Mac line of computers in the coming months, setting up an AI showdown for both company’s laptop and desktop businesses.

Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

For the latest earnings reports and analysis, earnings whispers and expectations, and company earnings news, click here

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance.