Microsoft Expands Snapdragon's Exclusive Copilot+ Features To AMD And Intel PCs
It took a minute (and not a New York minute), but Microsoft is taking the leash off of most of its Copilot+ features that were tethered exclusively to Snapdragon X series laptops, and letting them roam free on Copilot+ PCs powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300 series and Intel Core Ultra 200V processors. The only exceptions are a new set of Voice Access capabilities, and Simplified Chinese support as part of Microsoft's Live Caption tool—they're being made available to Snapdragon X systems first, followed by AMD and Intel setups sometime "later this year."
The Copilot+ initiative represents Microsoft's effort to tap into a new class of Windows 11 devices running on hardware featuring a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU). Announced at last year's Microsoft Build event, Qualcomm managed to get first dibs on the official Copilot+ PC branding, for devices powered by its Arm-based Snapdragon X series chips.
Otherwise known as AI PCs, Copilot+ systems have to meet certain requirements, such as having an NPU capable of delivering at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS), along with a minimum of 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Newer generation processors from AMD and Intel meet these requirements, and whatever exclusivity agreement Qualcomm had with Microsoft is now over, at least for the most part. In a blog post, Microsoft outlines several Copilot+ features that are now available on compatible AMD and Intel systems for the first time.
One of those is Live Captions, which enables real-time translations in English for both audio and video content during virtual meetings, podcasts, and video playback. However, Microsoft's also expanding support to include Simplified Chinese, which is rolling out first to Snapdragon X systems before landing on AMD and Intel setups sometime "soon."
Another feature that's suddenly unlocked on AMD and Intel PCs is Cocreator in Paint. This gives compatible PCs access to "enhanced drawing and editing capabilities" by combining text-based prompts with freehand drawing.
Restyle Image and Image Creator in Photos is also now available more broadly. Restyle Image makes it possible to "transform photos into stunning artistic interpretations, such as oil paintings, sketches or modern art styles, with just a few clicks," while Image Creator turns written ideas into visuals based on detailed prompts.
As for the Voice Access feature that, for the time being, is only available on Snapdragon X systems, it enables more flexible voice control on compatible PCs "using more descriptive and flexible language."
"This can reduce the challenges faced when learning complex steps, commands and syntax that voice access previously required. It will be the first Voice Access update to take advantage of the NPU capabilities on Copilot+ PCs," Microsoft explains.
Save for the Snapdragon X exclusives (Voice Access and Simplified Chinese support in Live Captions), these nifty Copilot+ capabilities are available now to all Copilot+ PCs via the latest Windows Update.
