Microsoft adds AI agents to Windows and unveils $2,599 Surface laptop

Microsoft introduced a set of Windows updates on October 7 that place AI agents and other AI tools inside the operating system, Fortune reported.

Chief executive Satya Nadella, speaking at Dogpatch Studios in San Francisco, described Windows as a "hybrid intelligence" system that will run AI both in the cloud and locally on the device. Jacob Andreou, head of Copilot, said the redesigned Copilot app can carry out tasks on a PC without reaching the cloud when the work does not require heavy computing, which he said makes it cheaper and faster. The app will also include a feature called Autopilot that lets users name an agent, give it a role and a goal, and assign it work such as project updates and deadline tracking. Some of the features shown are not yet available.

Microsoft also unveiled the Surface Laptop Ultra, priced at $2,599 and available beginning October 16, built around Nvidia's RTX Spark chip. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang appeared on stage. A companion Surface RTX Spark Dev Box will sell for $5,999 and arrive in November.

Microsoft invested $13 billion in OpenAI, though the partnership has since weakened as Google, OpenAI and Anthropic compete on advanced models. In July, Microsoft said Microsoft 365 Copilot had passed 30 million paid seats. Its next quarterly results are expected in October.

This story was first reported by Fortune.