Microsoft adding dedicated Copilot key to Windows keyboards [Video]

Microsoft is all-in on AI, and that’s now spearheaded by Copilot. Starting this year, Microsoft is adding a new key to Windows keyboards, with a dedicated key for launching Copilot.

In a blog post today, Microsoft revealed that new Windows PCs will ship with a dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard. The first laptops with this key have already been revealed in the new lineup of Dell XPS laptops.

Microsoft explains:

Today, we are excited to take the next significant step forward and introduce the Copilot key to Windows 11 PCs. In this new year, we will be ushering in a significant shift toward a more personal and intelligent computing future where AI will be seamlessly woven into Windows from the system, to the silicon, to the hardware. This will not only simplify people’s computing experience but also amplify it, making 2024 the year of the AI PC.

The company further notes that the addition of the Copilot key is the “first significant change to the Windows PC keyboard in nearly three decades,” and that it will start to appear on more machines at CES 2024 which begins next week, as well as on Surface devices arriving in 2024.

The Copilot key appears to the right side of the space bar, between the “Alt” and arrow keys. In the demos we’ve seen thus far in Microsoft’s videos below and Dell’s new XPS line, it takes the place of the right-side “CTRL” key – likely a jarring change for some users.

Tapping the Copilot key, as you’d expect, brings up Copilot AI in Windows 11 to assist with tasks using AI. Microsoft also notes that, if the user disables Copilot, the key will launch normal search in Windows.

More on Windows & AI:

• Intel Core Ultra improves battery & AI for Windows and ChromeOS – here are the first laptops
• Microsoft Copilot AI gets a dedicated app on Android, no sign-in required
• Windows may soon be able to stream your Android phone’s camera via Phone Link

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