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Microsoft stops insisting you need a "Copilot+ PC"
Confirmed
In Short: Microsoft has stopped using the Copilot+ PC branding for its latest Surface devices, signaling a shift in its AI-first hardware strategy.
Microsoft has officially dropped the Copilot+ PC branding for its latest Surface devices, according to Brett Ostrum, corporate VP of Surface, who spoke with Windows Central. The new Surface laptops, including the Surface Pro 12 and 13 with Snapdragon X2 Plus, will not carry the Copilot+ PC logo or name.
The Copilot+ PC initiative, launched in mid-2024, aimed to identify AI-first computers with exclusive artificial intelligence features. However, the branding is no longer prominently featured on Microsoft's latest devices, with the landing page now redirecting to a page for 'performance PCs.
The decision to drop the Copilot+ PC branding comes as Microsoft continues to refine its approach to AI integration in its products. In January 2025, Ostrum noted that Copilot+ PCs represented 15 percent of premium laptop sales in the US during the holiday season, but the marketing campaign may have served its purpose.
The Copilot+ PC program required 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an integrated neural processing unit (NPU) with performance rated at 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) or better. Despite meeting these requirements, the new Surface devices will not carry the Copilot+ PC label.
Microsoft's decision to drop the Copilot+ PC branding aligns with a broader trend in the industry. General interest in AI PCs has been waning, as cloud-based AI options have become widely available and the use cases for on-device AI have been limited. This shift may work in favor of PC OEMs, as they no longer need to provide large amounts of RAM to meet the Copilot+ PC requirements.
The Copilot+ PC branding was derived from Microsoft's AI chatbot assistant, Copilot, which was released in November 2023. However, the Copilot+ PC initiative did not achieve the success Microsoft had hoped for, and the company has since retired the animated mascot Mico that represented the Copilot brand.
Microsoft's latest AI strategy includes a revamped version of the Copilot AI assistant, which was unveiled recently. The company is still navigating its position in the competitive AI market, with rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google carving out their niches.
While Microsoft has dropped the Copilot+ PC branding, the company continues to emphasize AI integration in its products. The new Surface laptops will still meet the requirements for AI-accelerated workloads, but without the Copilot+ PC label.
What this adds
Microsoft's decision to drop the Copilot+ PC branding may be due to a combination of factors, including the limited demand for on-device AI and the company's ongoing efforts to refine its AI strategy.
Background
Microsoft Copilot is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Microsoft AI, a division of Microsoft. Based on the Microsoft Prometheus large language model, it was launched in February of 2023 as Microsoft's main replacement for the discontinued Cortana from Windows 10.
What's confirmed
- “They do meet all the requirements of our previous bar for what Copilot+ devices are. We still lean into the narrative around AI on the edge and being able to have a hybrid solution out there,” he said.
What's still developing
- We just spotted a deal at Amazon that drops one of ASUS’ latest 2026 Vivobook S 16 AMD-powered Copilot+ PCs to $1,099.99 shipped.
- A bunch of Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs are also discounted right now at Best Buy, and we’ve highlighted some of our favorites from the sale below.
- “[T]he purpose for Copilot+ PCs was to be able to deliver [NPU] experience,” Kedar Kondap, SVP of compute at Qualcomm, told Windows Central.
- Copilot+ PCs are “a class of AI PCs and laptops” that represent “the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever,” according to a Microsoft marketing page that was up as recently as May, per Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
- The PC program also gave people a reason to think they needed a new computer, just as the PC industry was experiencing a post-COVID sales lull.
- There are numerous reasons why Microsoft may be shying away from Copilot+ PC branding.
- Copilot+ PCs were launched in mid-2024 as Microsoft went full throttle with its AI push.
- Microsoft called Copilot+ PCs "the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built" and said they were "the most significant change to the Windows platform in decades," when they were launched.
- With OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, Google's Gemini, and other AI companies carving out their niche in the AI market, Microsoft is still trying to figure out theirs.
- One thing seems sure, though: Copilot+ PCs won't be part of Microsoft's AI plans.
- Microsoft Readies Its AI Agent for Release Calling the Muse Charm an 'AI Tamagotchi' Is an Insult to Real Collectors Google Pixel Phones Now Use AI to Make Boring Phone Calls for You In August 2025, PCMag’s Chris Hoffman wrote about his year with a Copilot+ PC branded Surface Laptop 7.
- More recently, Hoffman found that while Microsoft still heavily promoted AI at its Build conference in June, the company neglected to mention its AI-first PC hardware brand.