Microsoft started name-dropping laptops called Copilot+ PCs in the middle of 2024, hyping them like the second coming of the IBM PC Model 5150. They’re “the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built” and “the most significant change to the Windows platform in decades,” it declared. But if you shear away the marketing fluff, what does the term “Copilot+ PC” mean on a practical level? What is a Copilot+ PC, anyway?
Here’s a little secret: A Copilot+ PC is essentially just a newer Windows laptop with several unique AI features. There’s a little more to it, but it’s not as complicated as it sounds.
Below, I’ve compiled a simple guide for shoppers who want to know exactly what they’re getting when they buy one of these so-called AI PCs, including their spec minimums.
First off: What is Copilot?
Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) is an AI assistant developed by Microsoft and powered by a custom version of ChatGPT by OpenAI. The Copilot app comes pre-installed on every new Windows 11 laptop, and you’ll see it pinned to the taskbar or on the Start menu when you boot up your machine. All models released since 2024 also come with physical keyboard shortcuts for Copilot. You can remap that hotkey if you don’t use it, but there will always be a little Copilot logo on it.
If you don’t have a Windows laptop, you can access Copilot on the web at copilot.com or install the Copilot app yourself for free. It’s available for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Android.
So what does ‘Copilot+ PC’ mean, exactly?
Nine different laptop manufacturers make Copilot+ PCs.
Credit: Microsoft
A Copilot+ PC is a Windows laptop with a certain kind of newer processor that enables some exclusive AI-powered software features. They’re often called “AI PCs.”
Microsoft announced the Copilot+ PC category in May 2024 and the first wave of devices launched a month later, so the genre is still pretty fresh. Beyond Microsoft’s own models, Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, MSI, and Samsung all make Copilot+ PCs, too. They currently start at $699.99 and are sold at Best Buy, Amazon, and Costco, as well as on their manufacturers’ websites.
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Copilot+ PC features

The “Click to Do” tool on Copilot+ PCs is like a smarter right-click menu.
Credit: Microsoft
Microsoft’s suite of Copilot+ PC features (or “experiences,” as it likes to call them) isn’t available on other Windows laptops:
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Click to Do suggests various actions when you highlight text and images (beyond your standard “Copy”). If you select a paragraph on a website, for example, Click to Do will offer to summarize it, turn it into a list, and rewrite it in different tones.
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Improved Windows search can find files and settings on your computer without needing their exact names or correct spelling.
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Live Captions translates video and audio into English from over 44 languages in real time. It’s virtually identical to Google’s Live Caption tool for Chrome and Android devices.
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Cocreator is an image generator in Microsoft Paint.
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Image Creator and Restyle Image are an image generator and a photo-filtering tool in Microsoft Photos, respectively. Some Copilot+ PCs have an additional image enhancement feature in Photos called Super Resolution, and the full lineup will get it later this year.
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Recall takes constant screenshots of your on-screen activities and makes them searchable. It’s controversial for security reasons; in order to use it, you have to opt in to saving screenshots and enable a biometric sign-in option.
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Windows Studio Effects are webcam tools. They can keep you in frame, make your face appear better-lit, blur your background, add filters, minimize background noises, and adjust your gaze to make it look like you’re making direct eye contact. (I’ve tried that one, and it’s kind of freaky.)
Copilot+ PC requirements

A Copilot+ PC has to have an NPU — but not just any NPU.
Credit: Microsoft
In order to run these features, Copilot+ PCs have to meet some spec standards. Microsoft notes that these could change over time, but at present, they include:
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At least 16GB of RAM
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At least 256GB of SSD or UFS storage
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A processor with a decent NPU (or neural processing unit, an extra bit of hardware for handling AI tasks)
More specifically, a Copilot+ PC’s NPU has to be capable of performing at least 40 TOPS (or Trillion Operations Per Second, a metric that quantifies AI performance). Forty TOPS is on the high end among modern laptops’ NPUs, which typically max out at 50 TOPS. To boil this down, it that means Copilot+ PCs are some of the fastest laptops when it comes to AI processing.
There are currently three types of laptop processors that tick this box of having an NPU with at least 40 TOPS:
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Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processors (Snapdragon X, X Plus, and X Elite)
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Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors, aka Intel Lunar Lake (Intel Core Ultra 5 226V, 5 228V, 5 236V, 5 238V, 7 256V, 7 258V, 7 266V, 7 268V, and 9 288V)
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AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processors (AMD Ryzen AI 5 340, 7 350, 9 365, 9 HX 370, and 9 HX 375)
An important aside: Snapdragon X series processors are ARM-based chips, which means they work differently than x86-based Intel and AMD processors. Because of this, they’re not compatible with certain apps that are only designed to run on x86 systems — mainly specialty apps like AutoCAD and some school software. Many top public universities actively discourage their students from getting Snapdragon-powered laptops for this exact reason. Keep that in mind if you’re shopping for a new Windows laptop; your main use case could disqualify a third of your options.
Copilot+ PC reviews: Models we love
Mashable has been testing Copilot+ PCs since the category launched, and we’ve found that they tend to score especially well on battery life — outlasting even newer Apple MacBooks. Some of our favorite models include the 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, a polished-looking powerhouse that’s our top Windows laptop overall; the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition, our No. 1 convertible (and our reigning battery life champ); and the Asus ZenBook A14, an ultraportable that comes in under $1,000.
For more info, check out our guide to the best Windows laptops.
Shop our favorite Copilot+ PCs:



Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
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![Sam Altman’s project World looks to scale its human verification empire. First stop: Tinder. | TechCrunch
At a trendy venue near the San Francisco pier, Sam Altman’s verification project World celebrated its next evolution and rapid expansion of its ambitions. And it’s starting with Tinder.
Tools for Humanity (TFH), the company behind the World project, announced Friday plans to integrate its verification tech into dating apps, event and concert ticketing systems, business organizations, email, and other arenas of public life.
“The world is getting close to very powerful AI, and this is doing a lot of wonderful things,” said Altman, speaking before a packed crowd at The Midway. “We are also heading to a world now where there’s going to be more stuff generated by AI than by humans,” he added. “I’m sure many of you [have had moments] where you’re like, ‘Am I interacting with an AI or a person, or how much of each, and how do I know?”
World (formerly Worldcoin) distinguishes itself from many of its ID verification peers by offering the ability to verify that a real, living human is using a digital service while still protecting that person’s anonymity. There is some complex cryptographic alchemy behind this (something called “zero-knowledge proof-based authentication”). The upshot: The company is creating what it calls “proof of human” tools, which are mechanisms that can verify human activity in a world rife with AI agents and bots.
Its chief tool for verification is a spherical digital reader called the Orb that scans a user’s eyes, converting their iris into a unique and anonymous cryptographic identifier (known as a verified World ID). This can then be used to access World’s services, although users can also access World’s app without one.
Altman kept his remarks brief on Friday (TFH’s co-founder and CEO, Alex Blania, was absent due to a last-minute hand surgery, Altman said). He then turned much of the presentation over to World’s chief product officer, Tiago Sada, and his team.
Sada explained that World was launching the newest version of its app (the last version was launched at an event in December), along with a plethora of new integrations for its technology.
World has been preparing, for some time, to deploy a verification service for dating apps — most notably, Tinder. Last year, Tinder launched a World ID pilot program in Japan. That pilot was apparently a success because World announced that Tinder would be launching its verification integration in global markets —including the U.S. The program integrates a World ID emblem into the profiles of users who have gone through its verification processes, thus authenticating them as a real person.
Image Credits:World
World is also courting the entertainment industry by launching a new feature called Concert Kit, where musical artists can reserve a certain number of concert tickets for World ID-verified humans. This is designed to ensure that fans are safe from scalpers who often use automated ticket-buying bots to scarf up seats. Concert Kit is compatible with major ticketing systems, including Ticketmaster and Eventbrite, and the company is promoting it via partnerships with 30 Seconds to Mars and Bruno Mars — both of whom plan to use it for their upcoming tours.
The event was full of many other announcements, including some aimed at businesses. A Zoom/World ID verification integration seeks to battle a supposed deepfake threat to business calls, and a Docusign partnership is designed to ensure signatures come from authentic users.
The company is also working on a number of features in anticipation of the Wild West of the agentic web, including one called “agent delegation,” in which a person can delegate their World ID to an agent to carry out online activities on their behalf. A partnership with authentication firm Okta has also created a system (currently in beta) that verifies that an agent is acting on behalf of a human. The system is set up so that a World ID can be tied to a specific agent and then, when the agent goes out into the web to operate on that person’s behalf, websites will know a verified person is behind the behavior, said Okta’s chief product officer, Gareth Davies, at the event.
So far, it’s been difficult for World to scale, due largely to the verification process itself. For much of the company’s history, to get its gold standard, you had to travel to one of its offices and have your eyeballs scanned by an Orb — a fairly inconvenient (not to mention weird) experience.
Image Credits:World
However, World has continually made moves to increase the ease and incentive structure for verification. In the past, it offered its crypto asset, Worldcoin, to some members who signed up and has distributed its Orbs into big retail chains so that users can verify themselves while they’re out shopping or getting a coffee. Now the company is announcing that it is significantly expanding its Orb saturation in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The company also promoted a service where interested users could have World bring an Orb to their location for remote verification.
In a conversation with TechCrunch, Sada also shared that World has attempted to solve the scaling problem by creating different tiers of verification. The highest tier is Orb verification, but below that, World has previously offered a mid-level tier, which uses an anonymized scan of an official government ID via the card’s NFC chip.
The company also introduced a low-level tier, or what Sada called “low friction”— meaning low effort, I guess, but also “low security” — which involves merely taking a selfie.
Selfie Check, which Sada’s team presented during the event, is designed to maintain user privacy.
“Selfie is private by design,” said Daniel Shorr, one of TFH’s executives, during the presentation. “That means that we maximize the local processing that’s happening on your device, on your phone, which means that your images are yours.”
Selfie verification obviously isn’t new, and fraudsters have long managed to spoof it. “Obviously, we do our best, and it’s like one of the best systems that you’ll see for this. But it has limits,” Sada told TechCrunch. Developers looking to integrate World’s services can choose from the three different verification tiers depending on the level of security that’s important to them, he noted.
#Sam #Altmans #project #World #scale #human #verification #empire #stop #Tinder #TechCrunchDocuSign,sam altman,Tinder,World,Worldcoin,zoom Sam Altman’s project World looks to scale its human verification empire. First stop: Tinder. | TechCrunch
At a trendy venue near the San Francisco pier, Sam Altman’s verification project World celebrated its next evolution and rapid expansion of its ambitions. And it’s starting with Tinder.
Tools for Humanity (TFH), the company behind the World project, announced Friday plans to integrate its verification tech into dating apps, event and concert ticketing systems, business organizations, email, and other arenas of public life.
“The world is getting close to very powerful AI, and this is doing a lot of wonderful things,” said Altman, speaking before a packed crowd at The Midway. “We are also heading to a world now where there’s going to be more stuff generated by AI than by humans,” he added. “I’m sure many of you [have had moments] where you’re like, ‘Am I interacting with an AI or a person, or how much of each, and how do I know?”
World (formerly Worldcoin) distinguishes itself from many of its ID verification peers by offering the ability to verify that a real, living human is using a digital service while still protecting that person’s anonymity. There is some complex cryptographic alchemy behind this (something called “zero-knowledge proof-based authentication”). The upshot: The company is creating what it calls “proof of human” tools, which are mechanisms that can verify human activity in a world rife with AI agents and bots.
Its chief tool for verification is a spherical digital reader called the Orb that scans a user’s eyes, converting their iris into a unique and anonymous cryptographic identifier (known as a verified World ID). This can then be used to access World’s services, although users can also access World’s app without one.
Altman kept his remarks brief on Friday (TFH’s co-founder and CEO, Alex Blania, was absent due to a last-minute hand surgery, Altman said). He then turned much of the presentation over to World’s chief product officer, Tiago Sada, and his team.
Sada explained that World was launching the newest version of its app (the last version was launched at an event in December), along with a plethora of new integrations for its technology.
World has been preparing, for some time, to deploy a verification service for dating apps — most notably, Tinder. Last year, Tinder launched a World ID pilot program in Japan. That pilot was apparently a success because World announced that Tinder would be launching its verification integration in global markets —including the U.S. The program integrates a World ID emblem into the profiles of users who have gone through its verification processes, thus authenticating them as a real person.
Image Credits:World
World is also courting the entertainment industry by launching a new feature called Concert Kit, where musical artists can reserve a certain number of concert tickets for World ID-verified humans. This is designed to ensure that fans are safe from scalpers who often use automated ticket-buying bots to scarf up seats. Concert Kit is compatible with major ticketing systems, including Ticketmaster and Eventbrite, and the company is promoting it via partnerships with 30 Seconds to Mars and Bruno Mars — both of whom plan to use it for their upcoming tours.
The event was full of many other announcements, including some aimed at businesses. A Zoom/World ID verification integration seeks to battle a supposed deepfake threat to business calls, and a Docusign partnership is designed to ensure signatures come from authentic users.
The company is also working on a number of features in anticipation of the Wild West of the agentic web, including one called “agent delegation,” in which a person can delegate their World ID to an agent to carry out online activities on their behalf. A partnership with authentication firm Okta has also created a system (currently in beta) that verifies that an agent is acting on behalf of a human. The system is set up so that a World ID can be tied to a specific agent and then, when the agent goes out into the web to operate on that person’s behalf, websites will know a verified person is behind the behavior, said Okta’s chief product officer, Gareth Davies, at the event.
So far, it’s been difficult for World to scale, due largely to the verification process itself. For much of the company’s history, to get its gold standard, you had to travel to one of its offices and have your eyeballs scanned by an Orb — a fairly inconvenient (not to mention weird) experience.
Image Credits:World
However, World has continually made moves to increase the ease and incentive structure for verification. In the past, it offered its crypto asset, Worldcoin, to some members who signed up and has distributed its Orbs into big retail chains so that users can verify themselves while they’re out shopping or getting a coffee. Now the company is announcing that it is significantly expanding its Orb saturation in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The company also promoted a service where interested users could have World bring an Orb to their location for remote verification.
In a conversation with TechCrunch, Sada also shared that World has attempted to solve the scaling problem by creating different tiers of verification. The highest tier is Orb verification, but below that, World has previously offered a mid-level tier, which uses an anonymized scan of an official government ID via the card’s NFC chip.
The company also introduced a low-level tier, or what Sada called “low friction”— meaning low effort, I guess, but also “low security” — which involves merely taking a selfie.
Selfie Check, which Sada’s team presented during the event, is designed to maintain user privacy.
“Selfie is private by design,” said Daniel Shorr, one of TFH’s executives, during the presentation. “That means that we maximize the local processing that’s happening on your device, on your phone, which means that your images are yours.”
Selfie verification obviously isn’t new, and fraudsters have long managed to spoof it. “Obviously, we do our best, and it’s like one of the best systems that you’ll see for this. But it has limits,” Sada told TechCrunch. Developers looking to integrate World’s services can choose from the three different verification tiers depending on the level of security that’s important to them, he noted.
#Sam #Altmans #project #World #scale #human #verification #empire #stop #Tinder #TechCrunchDocuSign,sam altman,Tinder,World,Worldcoin,zoom](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-17-at-1.55.00-PM.png?w=680)






![‘Project Hail Mary’ Won’t Be Coming to Streaming Any Time Soon
With all the excitement of movies to come this week thanks to CinemaCon, it was almost easy to forget that MGM provided an interesting update on one of our favorite movies of the year that’s already out: Project Hail Mary will head back to IMAX theaters this weekend for an extended theatrical run. But that extension also means one thing: you’ll have to wait to stream it at home for a good while longer. During its presentation at CinemaCon this week MGM confirmed that Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s sci-fi hit would make its return to IMAX screens for a limited-time, one-week run starting this weekend, a move that will likely inch Project Hail Mary ever closer to crossing the $600 million box office mark. But to put a finer point on the news, Miller took to Twitter yesterday to confirm specifically that the extension means you won’t be able to watch the film at home for the forseeable future.
We announced yesterday that MGM is extending the exclusive theatrical window for PROJECT HAIL MARY so it won’t be on streaming anytime soon. This is a movie that needs to be seen on a big screen – and w a full return to IMAX screens for 1 week only starting this weekend, make… https://t.co/suK8NYpgWM — Christopher Miller (@chrizmillr) April 16, 2026 “It won’t be on streaming any time soon,” Miller’s tweet reads in part. “This is a movie that needs to be seen on a big screen […] Bring friends and loved ones. It’s an experience to share with others.” Project Hail Mary launched on March 20, so it’s not too surprising that it’s not headed home just yet—it’s just shy of a month into its theatrical window, which has now been extended by at least another week with the return to IMAX. But as studios begin to try realigning towards more theatrical releases with longer exclusivity windows again (one of the lingering aftereffects of covid’s impact on movie theaters), we should probably expect some of the biggest films of the year and beyond to try and hold off of hitting streaming for as long as they can.
At least in Project Hail Mary‘s case, you can still go and see it somewhere, even if it’s not at home. Good things come to those who wait, but for now, you can head to a movie theater to get your fix again. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Project #Hail #Mary #Wont #Coming #Streaming #TimeAmazon MGM,Project Hail Mary,Streaming ‘Project Hail Mary’ Won’t Be Coming to Streaming Any Time Soon
With all the excitement of movies to come this week thanks to CinemaCon, it was almost easy to forget that MGM provided an interesting update on one of our favorite movies of the year that’s already out: Project Hail Mary will head back to IMAX theaters this weekend for an extended theatrical run. But that extension also means one thing: you’ll have to wait to stream it at home for a good while longer. During its presentation at CinemaCon this week MGM confirmed that Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s sci-fi hit would make its return to IMAX screens for a limited-time, one-week run starting this weekend, a move that will likely inch Project Hail Mary ever closer to crossing the $600 million box office mark. But to put a finer point on the news, Miller took to Twitter yesterday to confirm specifically that the extension means you won’t be able to watch the film at home for the forseeable future.
We announced yesterday that MGM is extending the exclusive theatrical window for PROJECT HAIL MARY so it won’t be on streaming anytime soon. This is a movie that needs to be seen on a big screen – and w a full return to IMAX screens for 1 week only starting this weekend, make… https://t.co/suK8NYpgWM — Christopher Miller (@chrizmillr) April 16, 2026 “It won’t be on streaming any time soon,” Miller’s tweet reads in part. “This is a movie that needs to be seen on a big screen […] Bring friends and loved ones. It’s an experience to share with others.” Project Hail Mary launched on March 20, so it’s not too surprising that it’s not headed home just yet—it’s just shy of a month into its theatrical window, which has now been extended by at least another week with the return to IMAX. But as studios begin to try realigning towards more theatrical releases with longer exclusivity windows again (one of the lingering aftereffects of covid’s impact on movie theaters), we should probably expect some of the biggest films of the year and beyond to try and hold off of hitting streaming for as long as they can.
At least in Project Hail Mary‘s case, you can still go and see it somewhere, even if it’s not at home. Good things come to those who wait, but for now, you can head to a movie theater to get your fix again. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Project #Hail #Mary #Wont #Coming #Streaming #TimeAmazon MGM,Project Hail Mary,Streaming](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/04/project-hail-mary-ryan-gosling-1280x853.jpg)
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