Microsoft Copilot+ PCs have been with us for a while, now, and they're ostensibly a spearhead for the fabled AI PC era. But while until now that proverbial Copilot+ sticker has only been slapped on computers with an NPU that Microsoft deems up to snuff, Nvidia now seems to be suggesting that some non-NPU systems with RTX GPUs inside will be deemed Copilot+ worthy by the end of the year.
On a recent earnings call (via Motley Fool), Nvidia's chief financial officer Colette Kress said that in Q3 the company "began shipping new GeForce RTX AI PC with up to 321 AI TOPS from Asus and MSI with Microsoft's Copilot+ capabilities anticipated in Q4. These machines harness the power of RTX ray tracing and AI technologies to supercharge gaming, photo, and video editing, image generation, and coding."
Note the key phrase: "with Microsoft's Copilot+ capabilities anticipated in Q4".
Microsoft's official documentation states the minimum system requirements for a Copilot+ PC include "a compatible processor or System on a Chip (SoC)" which "currently includes the Snapdragon X Plus and the Snapdragon X Elite."
No mention of GPUs, though, because the Copilot+ stamp has thus far been reserved for NPUs, these being AI-specific proccessing tiles forming part of one cohesive processor alongside CPU and GPU tiles. Typically, these NPUs offer about 50 AI TOPS.
We've known for a while that some Copilot+ PCs are going to feature RTX GPUs, but Nvidia seems to be suggesting that some such Copilot+ RTX systems will be with us by year's end.
We should note that 321 AI TOPS is exactly what the RTX 4070 mobile can offer. So, it sounds like Nvidia's saying there could be official Copilot+ RTX 4070 (and possibly lower) laptops from Asus and MSI very soon.
We all know that GPUs are capable of the kinds of processing needed for AI. The Tensor cores in Nvidia GPUs are basically just that: AI acceleration cores.
And while these kinds of cores form the backbone of datacentre AI GPUs—sorry, AI accelerators—there are enough of them in your average Nvidia gaming GPU to undertake some AI processing, especially the kinds of basic consumer-grade AI processing of Microsoft Copilot apps and features.
But while that's all true, and although it's intimated it will do so in future, Microsoft has until now avoided awarding a Copilot+ badge to machines with only a GPU, and no NPU. All that's left is for Microsoft to officially acknowledge GPUs in its Copilot+ branding, which it looks like it might soon do.
This would help explain the existence of Nvidia's new "AI PC" social media channel, too. Although we're also hopeful all this Nvidia AI PC talk might ultimately mean an all-Nvidia Arm-based processor with RTX 4070 mobile performance to boot.
Which, if we're correct about all this Copilot+ stuff, would make such an all-Nvidia processor Copilot+ stamp-worthy, too. It's certainly looking like a brave new world out there.
