By Joanna SternAI-puter (noun): A computer designed to execute AI tasks better than older, non-AI computers. Example sentence: “I’ll be at the coffee shop, working on my AI-puter.”
OK, fine, nobody’s really going to use my new term, but plenty of big names will try to sell you one. And Microsoft MSFT 1.22%increase; green up pointing triangle is leading the charge—with a new Windows platform optimized for artificial intelligence announced on Monday.
好的，没问题，没人会真的使用我的新术语，但很多大公司会试图向你推销。微软（Microsoft）MSFT1.22% 正在带头——周一宣布了一个针对人工智能优化的新 Windows 平台。
I tried these new Copilot+ PCs. They’ve got improved performance, battery life and enhanced AI features. Finally! Microsoft is promising some real competition to Apple’s M-powered MacBooks.
我尝试了这些新的 Copilot+个人电脑。它们在性能、电池续航时间和增强的人工智能功能方面都有所提升。终于！微软承诺要给苹果的 M 系列 MacBook 带来一些真正的竞争。
“Apple’s done a fantastic job of really innovating on the Mac,” Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella told me in an exclusive video interview. “We’re going to outperform them. We finally feel we have a very competitive product.” (You can watch my video explaining the new PCs here. You can see my full interview with Nadella here.)
“苹果在 Mac 上真的做得很棒，”微软首席执行官萨蒂亚·纳德拉在一次独家视频采访中告诉我。“我们将超越他们。我们终于觉得我们有一个非常有竞争力的产品。”（您可以在这里观看我解释新 PC 的视频。您可以在这里看到我与纳德拉的完整采访。）”
新款 Surface Laptop 已经重新设计，屏幕边框更薄。 David Hall/The Wall Street Journal
大卫·霍尔/华尔街日报
Surface Pro 已更新芯片，并提供了新的 OLED 屏幕选项。 David Hall/The Wall Street Journal
大卫·霍尔/华尔街日报
Microsoft made two important moves to do it. It optimized Windows for Qualcomm’s latest chips, which are more like the ones in your smartphone than the Intel chips in most Windows PC. They claim to have it all: all-day battery life, cooler temperatures, blazing performance. And a new chip component amps up AI features right on your laptop—no need to send everything to the cloud.
微软采取了两项重要举措来实现这一目标。它为高通最新芯片优化了 Windows，这些芯片更像您智能手机中的芯片，而不是大多数 Windows PC 中的英特尔芯片。他们声称拥有一切：全天电池续航，更低温度，出色性能。而一种新的芯片组件增强了笔记本电脑上的人工智能功能——无需将所有内容发送到云端。
Microsoft has a new $999 Surface Laptop and Surface Pro based on the platform. Other Windows PC makers, including Dell, Lenovo, HP and Asus, have refreshed laptops, too. You can get them all starting on June 18.
微软推出了基于该平台的新款 999 美元 Surface Laptop 和 Surface Pro。包括戴尔、联想、惠普和华硕在内的其他 Windows PC 制造商也推出了更新款笔记本电脑。您可以从 6 月 18 日开始购买这些产品。
I’ve been skeptical about this whole AI PC thing. You know what runs just fine on my laptop? ChatGPT and other generative-AI tools. Yet after checking out the improved Surface devices and spending time talking to Nadella, I’m in. Just get the basics right this time, Microsoft!
我一直对这整个 AI PC 的事持怀疑态度。你知道在我的笔记本电脑上运行得很好的是 ChatGPT 和其他生成式 AI 工具。然而，在查看了改进的 Surface 设备并花时间与纳德拉交谈后，我改变了看法。这一次请把基础做对，微软！
The hardware
When I asked Nadella what makes an AI PC an AI PC, it got real nerdy, real fast—NPUs, system architecture, edge computing and a lot more. Here’s what set these machines apart—no computer-science degree needed:
• Arm chips. Your current Windows laptop likely has an Intel or AMD chip, which is based on decades-old x86 architecture. This first crop of Copilot+ PCs with Qualcomm Snapdragon X series chips are based on the more efficient Arm architecture.
Apple moved all its Macs to its own Arm chips a few years ago. Almost everything we hated about laptops? Gone. The machines run quiet and cool, and their batteries last a long time. Now, Nadella has the same in his new Surface Laptop. He told me he hasn’t heard his Surface Laptop’s fan go on, and he’s been blown away by the all-day battery life.
The company claims the new Surfaces are 58% faster than the M3-powered MacBook Air, too. (Apple just released its next-generation chip, the M4, with the iPad Pro.)
Stop me if you’ve heard all this before. Microsoft has tried Arm chips several times, but Nadella says it’s “finally there.” Popular apps like Chrome, WhatsApp, Spotify and others now run natively on the systems, and the latest Windows can run older apps faster, too.
There will be Copilot+ PCs powered by Intel and AMD chips too, but they won’t arrive until later.
• NPUs. Computers generally have a central processing unit, the CPU, and a graphics processing unit, the GPU. Now, let’s welcome the neural processing unit. (Yep, NPU.) You can think of it as the AI accelerator. It’s optimized for handling complex AI tasks right on the computer.
• Edge computing. With ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and all the other generative AI tools, the processing happens in the cloud—aka at some data center. Now, with an NPU, some AI processing can happen right in your lap. This is called the “edge.” Processing on your computer can be faster and more secure.
Copilot+ PCs have over 40 on-device AI models, including eight small language models for generative AI. To access large language models like ChatGPT or Microsoft’s own Copilot, which provide more versatile and wide-ranging responses, you still need to connect to the internet. In the coming weeks, Copilot will integrate OpenAI’s latest GPT-4o model, Nadella said.
The software
Microsoft put all that together to provide new AI tricks to Windows 11. Everything is processed by that NPU. No cloud necessary.
• Recall. You know the situation: You see an image or take a note and then completely forget where it was. With Recall, Windows constantly captures what’s on your screen. Then it uses an on-device generative-AI model to process and search it all. The demo laptop had a slideshow with pictures of marine life, so I typed “PowerPoint with fish.” The word “fish” wasn’t even in the presentation, and yet Recall opened it immediately.
Uh, screenshots of everything I do? What could possibly go wrong? Nadella assured me none ever leave the computer. You can also restrict Recall from taking screenshots of certain apps or websites—or turn it off entirely.
• Live Captions. Similar to other AI gadgets and smartphones, there is on-laptop live translation that can turn 44 languages into English. Since it’s built into Windows, it can work with any video call or app you’re using. You can even use it for in-person conversations. I tried it out with Spanish and Russian speakers. I was impressed with the speed but it made some slip-ups. Also, the interface doesn’t distinguish between speakers.
• 实时字幕。与其他人工智能设备和智能手机类似，笔记本电脑上有实时翻译功能，可以将 44 种语言翻译成英语。由于它内置在 Windows 中，可以与您正在使用的任何视频通话或应用程序配合使用。您甚至可以用它进行面对面的对话。我尝试了与西班牙语和俄语讲者一起使用。我对速度印象深刻，但它也会出现一些小错误。此外，界面无法区分说话者。
• Cocreator. As a longtime MS Paint stick-figure and box-house artist, I was delighted by this new tool. I typed in a prompt: “A Windows XP wallpaper with a mountain and sky.” Then, as I started drawing, an AI image appeared in a new canvas alongside mine. When I changed a color in my sketch, it changed a color in the generated image. Microsoft says it still sends the prompt to the cloud to ensure content safety.
• Cocreator。作为一个长期使用 MS Paint 画棍人和盒子房子的艺术家，我对这个新工具感到高兴。我输入了一个提示：“一个带有山和天空的 Windows XP 壁纸。”然后，当我开始绘画时，一个 AI 图像出现在一个新的画布上。当我在我的草图中改变颜色时，生成的图像中的颜色也会改变。微软表示仍然会将提示发送到云端以确保内容安全。
通过 Cocreator，当您在 Microsoft Paint 中绘制时，人工智能会根据您的草图生成一幅图像。照片：大卫·霍尔/《华尔街日报》
The future 未来
Those tools are just a start. Developers can make their own on-device AI software that takes advantage of the NPU.
这些工具只是一个开始。开发人员可以制作自己的设备 AI 软件，利用 NPU。
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS 分享您的想法
Will your next computer be an AI PC? Join the conversation below.
您的下一台电脑会是人工智能 PC 吗？在下方加入对话。
For the first time in a long time, Microsoft seems to have a winning computer strategy: modern, cutting-edge chips and unique software features. Yet there was one obvious question to ask Nadella: If AI is creating this more natural, humanlike way of interacting, why are we talking about traditional computers?
长期以来，微软似乎首次拥有了一项成功的计算机战略：现代化、尖端的芯片和独特的软件功能。然而，有一个明显的问题需要问纳德拉：如果人工智能正在创造这种更自然、更类人的互动方式，为什么我们还在谈论传统计算机？
“I fully expect the Copilot to be everywhere,” he said, adding that as Microsoft develops its AI agent that can speak and see, it will be in smart speakers, smartphones and even VR headsets. “It’s going to be ambient.”
So that’s the future: AI-puters here, there and everywhere.
这就是未来：人工智能计算机无处不在。
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请写信给 Joanna Stern，邮箱地址为 joanna.stern@wsj.com。
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