Microsoft is releasing Windows keyboards that will include a key for Copilot — representing the first major change to its keyboard design in 30 years.
As part of Microsoft's campaign, in which it described its intention for 2024 to be the "year of the AI PC", a new Copilot key will ship on various new PCs and laptops designed by Microsoft’s partners. The key will offer immediate access to Microsoft's AI-powered productivity assistant, Windows Copilot, with a single button press.
The key will be located between the "Alt" and left arrow keys on the new keyboards, replacing the Windows menu key, although the placement will differ by original equipment manufacturer (OEM) across Microsoft's partner ecosystem and across various markets.
Yusuf Mehdi, Executive Vice President, Consumer Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft, wrote in the official announcement:
We believe it will empower people to participate in the AI transformation more easily. The Copilot key joins the Windows key as a core part of the PC keyboard, and when pressed, the new key will invoke the Copilot in Windows experience to make it seamless to engage Copilot in your day-to-day."
The new key signals the first change to the PC keyboard since the Windows key was added in 1994.
Pushing the Copilot key initiates the Windows Copilot that’s currently built into Windows 11, launching a chatbot that can respond to prompts or process actions within Windows. There is currently no reference to how the key might function with the enterprise-targeting, subscription-based 365 Copilot, with its own unique feature set distinct from Windows Copilot — if it does at all.
Because Copilot is not yet universally accessible across the globe, if a computer with the new keyboard cannot access the service, selecting the Copilot key will open the search bar instead.
Microsoft has not yet specified which OEMs will have the Copilot key, with further announcements being scheduled for next week;s Consumer Electronics Show. However, new Microsoft Surface devices will have the dedicated Copilot key moving forward.
"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," Mehdi added. "This will not only simplify people’s computing experience but also amplify it, making 2024 the year of the AI PC."
Microsoft Going All In On Copilot in 2024
That the Copilot key is the first addition to a Windows keyboard in three decades highlights how seriously Microsoft is doubling down on AI and Copilot in particular.
It isn't an announcement in isolation, however. Microsoft is demonstrably placing Copilot at the forefront across virtually every level of its hardware and software.
