We’ve been hearing rumblings for months now that Microsoft was working on so-called “AI PCs.” At a pre-Build event, the company spelled out its vision.
At its Build 2024 conference, Microsoft unveiled Rewind, a new feature that aims to make local Windows PC searches as quick and effective as web searches. Similar to third-party apps like Rewind, Microsoft’s Recall for Copilot+ PCs uses AI to retrieve virtually anything you’ve seen on your PC. Microsoft describes it like giving your PC a photographic memory.
Normally, Microsoft’s Build is a straightforward (often dry) showcase of the company’s software and hardware developments, with a dash of on-stage coding to excite the developer crowd. But this year, the company is likely to make some huge AI moves, following its 2023 debut of ChatGPT-powered Bing Chat. Then, there’s new Surface hardware.
If you can't tell by now, just about every tech company is eager to pray at the altar of AI, for better or worse. Google's recent I/O developer conference was dominated by AI features, like its seemingly life-like Project Astra assistant.
The web version of Threads could soon be much more useful. Meta is starting to test custom Tweetdeck-like feeds that will allow users to track multiple topics, searches and accounts in a single view.
Google has updated some of its accessibility apps to add capabilities that will make them easier to use for people who need them.
At the end of I/O, Google’s annual developer conference at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that the company had said “AI” 121 times. That, essentially, was the crux of Google’s two-hour keynote — stuffing AI into every Google app and service used by more than two billion people around the world. Here are all the major updates from Google's big event, along with some additional announcements that came after the keynote.
Google is opening up its Home platform to third-party developers through new APIs. As such, any app will eventually be able to tap into the more than 600 million devices that are connected to Home, even if they're not necessarily smart home-oriented apps. Google suggests, for instance, that a food delivery app might be able to switch on the outdoor lights before the courier shows up with dinner.