- A recent Microsoft ad features Falcon in Captain America: Brave New World.
- The ad shows Falcon using a Copilot+ PC to help Captain America.
- Copilot+ PCs can use AI to do a variety of tasks.
Copilot+ PCs are the key to fighting Red Hulk and bad guys in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at least according to the most recent Microsoft commercial. A new advertisement debuted during the College Football Championship games in the United States, but it is now available online for anyone to enjoy. The ad shows the new Falcon helping Captain America during scenes from Captain America: Brave New World.
"What are we dealing with Copilot?" asks Falcon. The AI tool then analyzes an image and provides context on the structures seen. In that case they're "heavily fortified," so Captain America knows a bit more about what he's facing. As Captain America fights enemies, Falcon talks about some changes he wants in the Falcon suit, including new colors. He then draws an idea in Paint which is then enhanced with Cocreator following a prompt.
After some classic Marvel humor, the commercial concludes with a graphic stating Copilot+ PCs are the "fastest most intelligent Windows PCs ever." That text sits next to a Surface Laptop 7, which is used by Falcon throughout the ad.
The ad is a playful way to show some of the capabilities of Copilot, but if I'm being honest, it illustrates a problem that persists throughout any campaign focused on Copilot. Microsoft uses the term Copilot for a bunch of different things, only some of which are related.
Copilot+ is not the same as Copilot and both of those are different than Copilot Pro. Copilot in Microsoft 365 isn't the same thing as using Copilot on your PC by pressing the Copilot key on your keyboard. Our Copilot FAQ breaks things down, but I don't think Microsoft did a great job branding its AI features and devices.
The commercial featuring Captain America and Falcon is for Copilot+ PCs, which are computers that meet the minimum specs to run AI features locally. One of the most important requirements is that a device must have an NPU with at least 40 TOPS. Thanks to the NPUs inside all of the best Copilot+ PCs, the devices have access to AI features such as Live Captions in real time, enhanced AI edits in compatible Adobe creative apps, and Windows Studio Effects. The PCs also support Cocreator in Paint, which is shown in the commercial.
