Microsoft Build 2024 LIVE: Copilot AI, Surface laptops, Windows 11, and breaking news

AI-assisted accessibility

The assistive tech platform Cephable gains an NPU-powered camera pipeline to allow users with disabilities to control their computer through apps and games using head movements and facial expression, all locally run for excellent performance and uninterrupted support.

NeauralMixing it up

Algoriddim’s djay Pro will also be getting an exclusive NeuralMix boost for NPU-touting Copilot+ PCs. NeuralMix, offers time-stretching, pitch-shifting, and looping playback allowing you to use AI to isolate and mute individual instruments or vocal tracks and even change the key and tempo of songs.

A fresh CapCut

If you’re a CapCut user you’ll also unlock a considerable AI feature on Copilot+ PCs with the ability to remove backgrounds becoming an on-device tool ran straight from the device’s NPU.

DaVinci Resolve-d

DaVinci Resolve Studio will be offering NPU-accelerated features like Magic Mask that greatly speed up the applying of visual effects to object and people.

DaVinci Resolve’s performance on certain Copilot+ PCs has already wowed us thanks to a recent hands on where the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite gave our Senior Editor Mark Anthony Ramirez some second thoughts about his MacBook.

AI advancements in Adobe

Adobe’s suite of apps cover almost the entire spectrum of content creation and they’re all heading to Copilot+ PCs to take full advantage of the increased performance and efficiency they provide.

This includes Photoshop, Lightroom, and Express all available from today. With Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and more available in the summer.

Restyle in Photos

A new Restyle feature in Windows Photos will allow users to effortlessly switch up snapshots in moments through generative AI. Describe the style of the image you want to end up with or choose from a pre-set style list for anime, fantasy, impressionism, or even renaissance-like reworkings of your favorite pictures.

You can even tweak how creative the Restyle app gets and set it to adjust only the background or foreground, leading to even more potential outcomes and possibilities.

Windows Photos will even offer an Image Creator of its own, so you can generate something completely unique to aid in visual inspiration or just help you design your next favorite desktop wallpaper.

Once again, these features will now be completely free and ran on-device, giving you unlimited creative output in whichever way you prefer.

Cocreate in Paint

Cocreate isn’t an entirely new feature for early access Windows users, but this creative AI-enhancement of Windows Paint is set to offer new levels of generative capabilities without limits.

Previously, using Cocreate in Paint to generate images has been limited to a token-based system as it requires the use of cloud servers to generate the artwork you ask for.

However, making use of a Copilot+ PC’s NPU (neural processing unit), these advanced image generation tools can be run locally, meaning faster results without being limited in how many images you can generate or when.

The new Cocreator experience also allows for real-time image generation, meaning you can sketch out the idea of your image in the main Paint window, add a text prompt more clearly describing your image in Cocreator and see the results almost instantly!

Check out the video below of this feature in action!

Recall

Recall is the official name of the Windows AI Explorer feature we’ve heard of over the last few months and it set to offer an impressive new way of chasing up past actions on your machine.

Recall offers an interactive virtual timeline of events that you can scroll through to track down anything and everything you’ve recently used your device for. This means being able to ask Copilot to find the albums you were listening to earlier, and using the recall bar to skip back to snapshots in time of when you were choosing new albums to line up.

Or, as the video below showcases, using Recall to help you track down an item you saw while online shopping that you may have forgotten the name of, or where you previously saw it.

Microsoft Build 2024: Copilot+ PC features

The Copilot key isn’t the only thing to look forward to when it comes to Microsoft’s new suite of AI/Copilot+ PCs, each of these new laptops are outfitted with a wealth of processing power that adds unique features to the Windows experience.

What makes these features all the more impressive is that they all run locally, right from your Copilot+ device. This means even if you’re caught in an internet blind spot, you’ll have access to all of your usual features without interruption.

But which features can we expect to see on Copilot+ PCs? Let’s take a closer look.

Microsoft Build 2024: Copilot+ PCs

No doubt one of the major highlights of today’s event will be the new Copilot+ PC classification announced yesterday by Microsoft at a private pre-Build event.

Copilot+ PCs are the next step in the AI PC pipeline, and one that focuses on delivering top-flight performance alongside cutting-edge AI features.

Technically, any personal computer with an NPU-equipped processor could be an AI PC, but Copilot+ PCs will be a type of Windows laptop specifically designed to meet a particular performance threshold while catering to on-device AI application.

Copilot+ PCs promise to be the fastest and most intelligent Windows PCs to date, capable of over 40 TOPS (trillion operations per second), access to advanced AI models, and an enhanced efficiency throughout that leads to some of the best battery life on Windows laptops to date.

The Copilot+ PC will unlock a host of new AI-assisted features and functions for the Windows platform and the software you use daily while greatly expanding upon the capabilities of Window’s AI companion, Copilot.

Microsoft Build 2024: What’s expected

Today’s Build event will highlight Microsoft’s innovation across software and hardware, meaning we’ll be seeing everything new coming to Surface laptops, Windows 11, and AI via Copilot.

We already know of several major announcements, but today is an opportunity for Microsoft and CEO Satya Nadella to kick start an event that fleshes out the capabilities and showcases the true practical applications of these innovations.

So, what can we expect? Let’s dive in.

We’re live and counting down to Microsoft Build 2024!

Welcome! Laptop Mag is LIVE and counting down to today’s Microsoft Build keynote opener where we expect a collision of hardware and software reveals sure to set the heart racing of any Windows laptop user.

There’s some big things ready to take to the stage today, and we’ll be here throughout to share them directly with you!