Windows 11 devices will get new ‘Copilot’ AI key — biggest change to keyboards in nearly 30 years

AI is coming to the PC keyboard.

Microsoft and computer makers plan to start shipping Windows 11 notebooks and other devices with a dedicated “Copilot” key to quickly invoke the company’s “Copilot for Windows” artificial intelligence technology.

It’s the “first significant change to the Windows PC keyboard in nearly three decades,” joining the ubiquitous Windows key as “a core part of the PC keyboard,” according to a post by Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer, announcing the plan.

The move illustrates one of the advantages that Microsoft’s widely used operating system gives the company as it competes with the likes of Google, Amazon, Anthropic, and others to establish a beachhead for its AI technologies.

Asked by GeekWire if users will be able to map the Copilot key to alternative AI technologies from other tech providers, a Microsoft representative said there was nothing to share on that specific question as of now.

According to a footnote in the Microsoft post, “When Copilot for Windows is not available or enabled on the device, pressing the Copilot key will launch Windows Search,” referring to the Windows feature for searching a computer or the web. The web search function of Windows Search defaults to Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

Copilot for Windows is an AI chatbot that can be used to control system settings in Windows. Copilot in Windows also offers the ability to use Microsoft’s Bing Chat, powered in part by Microsoft partner and ChatGPT maker OpenAI, providing wide-ranging answers and AI-generated content in response to user prompts.

“Over the coming days leading up to and at CES, you will start to see the Copilot key unveiled on new Windows 11 PCs from our ecosystem partners, with availability beginning later this month through Spring, including on upcoming Surface devices,” Mehdi wrote in the Microsoft post, published early Thursday morning.

As of publication time, participating PC makers have not yet been named, and it’s not yet clear how Microsoft is incentivizing them to add the new Copilot key.

Initial images released by Microsoft show the new Copilot key next to the Alt key on the right side of the space bar, a spot previously reserved for a print-screen or screenshot key, or sometimes a second Ctrl, Fn, or Windows key.

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