Stop us if you've heard this before: You can now talk to your PC's built-in AI. But in Windows 11, Cortana has been replaced with Windows Copilot, and you can now interact with Copilot by saying "Hey, Copilot" instead. Microsoft is testing the new feature within the Windows Insider program. If your PC is unlocked, and you've configured it to accept the "Hey Copilot" wake words, you can now interact with Copilot verbally. The Copilot UI will launch as a small microphone icon.

Microsoft is beginning to roll out its next feature update of Windows 11, the Windows 11 2024 Update, beginning today. But Microsoft obviously isn't done yet, and it's offering a sneak peek at new Copilot experiences which will debut this fall, including Copilot Voice, Copilot Vision, and Copilot Daily, among others. On the surface, the new additions to Copilot sound similar to multimodal ChatGPT (or GPT-4o) that OpenAI launched earlier this year, where ChatGPT can now "see" and an Advanced Voice feature means that you can have conversations with it. But there are some key differences between what Microsoft and OpenAI are offering, and only some of Microsoft's Copilot innovations will be available right away. It's probably safe to say, though, that Copilot Voice will be the most important addition -- and Copilot Vision may not be.

Fortunes are being made on that interest, in a way hauntingly reminiscent of the crypto boom and subsequent bust. And absolutely everyone wants to get in on the former and avoid the latter. "Everyone" in this case includes pretty much every possible technology company. While OpenAI is at the center of this particular gold rush, and Nvidia is selling the shovels to digital forty-niners, more conventional players aren't resting on their haunches. As happens with buzzwords, it's quickly becoming diluted -- every new PC is an "AI PC," which means very little for actual users.

The year 2023 was a roller-coaster ride for Microsoft, as the tech giant faced both triumphs and tribulations in its quest to dominate the industry. From launching new products and services, to dealing with lawsuits and scandals, to making some surprising moves and announcements, Microsoft had its share of wins, fails, and WTF moments. I asked Microsoft Copilot to write that, saving me a precious minute or two. And then it happily gave me an example: the launch of Windows 11…which, of course, actually happened in October of 2021. So, yeah, that was Microsoft's 2023 in a nutshell: All the promise of AI, tempered with the reality that it still needs a lot of work.

We've had AI assistants in smart speakers, phones, TVs, and even cars. This is new territory, and Microsoft is staking out a claim via a new patent. As spotted by Neowin, the patent in question was filed on May 2. "The description relates to artificial intelligence assisted wearables, such as backpacks," the patent reads. "An example backpack may include sensors, such as a microphone and a camera. The backpack may receive a contextual voice command from a user."

It first launched back in 2014 as a digital assistant on the Windows Phone. But if you're a fan of Microsoft's smart assistant, Cortana, we have some bad news for you. Microsoft has announced that it has officially ditched its standalone Cortana app for Windows 11. The tech giant explained the change in a blog post this week, highlighting that it'understands this may affect the way you work.' Here's what you need to know about the change and what it means for you. Cortana first launched on the Windows Phone back in 2014, before being added as a smart assistant in Windows 10, one year later.

If you want to say goodbye to Cortana one last time within Windows 11, don't update the app. Microsoft began deprecating the Cortana app within the Windows Insider program just a short time ago -- that's programmer-speak for "getting rid of," just like "layoff" or "workforce reduction" is HR-speak for the same thing. You can still open the Cortana app on Windows 11, but be careful. On the top of the app you may notice that Cortana has an update available. If you ignore the update (for now), Cortana should continue to work as she's supposed to for the time being.

Microsoft has begun following through on its promise to kill off Cortana, the AI assistant that debuted in Windows 10. Microsoft's recent Windows Insider build in the Dev channel turns off Cortana, which only appears as an app within the Microsoft Store. If you apply an available update to the Cortana app, that will essentially turn it off: You'll receive a message saying that Cortana has been deprecated -- programmer-speak for turning off a specific feature. Microsoft had made its intentions clear: In June, the company said that it would begin ending support for the Cortana app in August. That doesn't mean Cortana is entirely gone.

Microsoft launched Cortana as an AI assistant and the flagship feature of Windows 10 in 2015. Now, eight years later, Microsoft is pulling the plug. In a support document, Microsoft said that it's ending support for the Cortana app, Cortana's only remaining presence within Windows. Instead, Microsoft said it will encourage users to use other AI-powered features, whether it be within a standalone app or simply part of Windows or Microsoft Edge. Microsoft did say that Cortana will still be available within Outlook Mobile and various versions of Teams, including Microsoft's conferencing solution, Teams Rooms.

Windows Copilot will usher an AI assistant into Windows 11, eight years after Microsoft launched its Cortana assistant alongside Windows 10--then killed it. Windows Copilot will debut in June, Microsoft will announce this week at its Build developer conference, as a preview for Windows 11. That will most likely set up Windows Copilot for a potential feature release in the fall, though Microsoft hasn't said when it will release the new feature. It's no surprise that AI has emerged as a top priority at Microsoft. However, Microsoft has introduced AI to its users first as a web service with Bing Chat, integrating AI within the Edge Copilot, then adapting it via the Microsoft 365 Copilot to Office apps like Word, Excel, and Teams, and later to Edge.