Microsoft Takes on Apple in Bringing AI Directly to PCs

Following the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into smartphones, Microsoft is now stepping up its efforts to challenge Apple in bringing AI technology directly to personal computers (PCs). At a special event in San Francisco, the company unveiled new AI models capable of performing tasks directly on PCs, along with a dedicated technology designed to secure AI agents.

The Washington-based technology giant also unveiled the new Surface Laptop Ultra, powered by Nvidia’s high-performance RTX Spark chip.

According to industry observers, Microsoft’s primary goal is to enable a significant portion of AI tasks that have traditionally relied on cloud-based or remote online servers to be performed locally on users’ own PCs.

Security and Governance of AI Agents

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced a new technology called “Microsoft Execution Containers” to prevent uncontrolled activity by AI agents and reduce potential security risks.

The new tool is designed to prevent AI agents from accessing sensitive information on a PC or carrying out unwanted operations without the user’s permission.

Leading technology companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia have also agreed to use the security framework. The new system will allow IT departments at organisations to define and enforce clear boundaries for what AI agents can do on employees’ PCs.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s own Copilot assistant will also increasingly divide its workload between local and cloud-based processing. While complex tasks may still be sent to the cloud, routine and sensitive operations can be handled directly on the user’s PC.

High Costs and Memory Shortages

Despite the opportunity to run AI directly on PCs, high hardware costs have emerged as a major obstacle. An ongoing global shortage of memory chips has significantly increased the production costs of AI-enabled PCs and desktops.

The newly unveiled Surface Laptop Ultra starts at US$2,599 for its entry-level configuration, while the highest-performance version is expected to cost approximately US$5,899.

Technology analysts say that although the software infrastructure for running AI locally on PCs is rapidly developing, the high cost of hardware could delay widespread adoption among ordinary consumers. As a result, PC-based AI technology is likely to remain focused initially on high-budget users and enterprise applications.

//DBTech/BMT/OR//