Microsoft's AI feature "Copilot" was recently upgraded to perform a variety of OS-related tasks, including bulk file renaming, storage drive cleanup, and IP address notification. Amazing!

But do you know what really makes your PC an AI PC, and not just Windows' Copilot feature? It's not just the "AI" hardware in your shiny new CPU. Yes, it's not just the "AI" hardware in your shiny new CPU. You also need a "Copilot" button on your keyboard. Oh wait, you have a fancy new laptop with an Intel Meteor Lake CPU or an AMD Phoenix APU. Both have AI accelerator NPUs, but no Copilot key. Your PC is not an AI PC.

These are Microsoft's requirements for an AI PC. And this news, ironically, is according to Intel. Microsoft has yet to release a complete definition of an AI PC. But "The Verge" has found an Intel press release that lists Microsoft's requirements.

The list goes like this. First, it requires "silicon with a new NPU, CPU, and GPU," but it is unclear whether all three are needed. However, it is not clear if all three are needed. Second, Copilot itself is needed as part of Windows 11. Finally, you will need a Copilot key. Then you are an AI PC!

Of course, this means that the numerous new laptops with Intel's Meteor Lake and AMD Phoenix APUs, which have CPU, NPU, and GPU elements, and Windows 11 with Copilot, are not AI PCs. That's because they don't have Copilot keys.

"Intel and Microsoft's joint alignment definition aligns with Core Ultra, Copilot, and Copilot keys," Todd Lewellen, head of Intel's PC ecosystem, told The Verge.

One interesting question that surfaces is whether stickers will make an AI PC. At CES earlier this year, Dell reportedly put a makeshift Copilot sticker on an XPS laptop, presumably because the entire Copilot key was dreamed up too late for Dell to begin manufacturing the key in earnest.

The Copilot key replaces the existing menu/application keys on standard MS keyboards, but non-MS keyboards may have secondary control keys, Windows keys, function keys, and other proprietary keys in the same position The "Cop" key is the same as the secondary control key on the MS keyboard. The question remains, however, whether mapping a sticker to a Copilot will make your PC an AI PC.

An even more pressing question is the Copilot key, but what if it does not have an official MS logo, like Github's alternative Copilot key sticker?

Or Microsoft's AI requirements are marketing driven and largely irrelevant. An NPU with a few TOPs of processing power and access to an online LLM that cannot recognize basic calculations or simple facts does not make a PC sentient. But be that as it may.