Summary
Overview
This TechLinked episode covers Microsoft's quiet retirement of the Copilot Plus PC brand alongside their launch of a new Copilot app, Meta's Connect keynote featuring new VR glasses and AI security concerns, Google's phone-calling Gemini feature, and various quick tech stories including AMD chip export issues, recalled smart glasses, a wireless eGPU, AI drone demonstrations, and kids using NPR podcast comments as social hangouts.
Microsoft Kills Copilot Plus PC Brand
Microsoft has quietly discontinued the Copilot Plus PC branding that launched just two years ago as their flagship AI laptop initiative. The brand suffered from the disastrous Recall feature that was pulled before launch due to security concerns about screenshotting everything users do. The name has now disappeared from Surface, Qualcomm Snapdragon, and upcoming NVIDIA RTX Spark laptop lineups, marking a significant retreat from Microsoft's AI laptop branding strategy.
- Microsoft's Surface division confirmed Copilot Plus PC branding is being discontinued
- Recall feature was pulled before first Copilot Plus PCs shipped due to security backlash about screenshotting everything
- The branding has disappeared from Surface, Qualcomm Snapdragon, and NVIDIA RTX Spark laptops
- Windows Central notes Copilot Plus PCs never actually had anything to do with Copilot itself
" If you bought one, pop off the Copilot key and frame it to show your grandkids. Hopefully by then the Butlerian Jihad will have happened and AI won't be a thing anymore. "
" Recall, the beloved feature, which screenshots everything you do so you can search for it later, and which security researchers immediately pointed out would save hackers a lot of time. Good for everybody. "
Microsoft Launches New Copilot App as 'OS for Work'
On the same day they killed the Copilot Plus PC brand, Microsoft announced a new Copilot application that CEO Satya Nadella confusingly calls 'a new OS for work' despite it being just an app. The platform features three sections: Home for chat with Office integration, Code for building apps from prompts, and Autopilot for autonomous AI agents that continue working after hours in the cloud.
- Satya Nadella calls the new Copilot 'a new OS for work' despite it being an application
- Home section integrates Copilot chat with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
- Code section builds apps and dashboards from text prompts
- Autopilot creates autonomous agents that work in the cloud after you leave
" But in the age of AI, words don't mean anything. "
" Sure it got new and innovative ways to burn money while you sleep but it not an OS. It an app Satya you already have an operating system. It's called Windows. You may have forgotten about it. "
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