AI Will Be Everywhere, New Studio App Launch

Dear Studio Fam,

Last week we discussed the differences between Google and OpenAI’s keynote presentations. While OpenAI presented more of a traditional startup demo, Google highlighted its ability to distribute AI features across its existing products already in use by billions of people. This week Microsoft followed up with its own AI-centric keynote that demonstrated its massive distribution potential and previewed its vision of omnipresent AI: the Copilot+ PC.

Read on for in depth analysis of the Copilot+ PC, as well as news of a new Studio product launch!

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The Copilot+ PC Standard
Similar to OpenAI’s approach of integrating AI into the desktop experience with a native application, the Copilot+ PC standard incorporates over 40 AI models directly into the Windows runtime. We say “standard” because Copilot+ PC isn’t a product per se so much as it is a new architecture for PC manufacturers. This standard incorporates a dedicated “neural processing unit” in lieu of a traditional graphics chip. Copilot+ PCs will use these NPUs to power a new approach to personal computing that will, according to Microsoft Consumer Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Mehdi, organize your data around relationships rather than a traditional database.

The defining feature of this new experience is called Recall and embodies exactly what we predicted last week: omnipresent AI recording everything you see and do on your PC. Recall can help you find an email or website based on specific queries, or documents based on general searches powered by semantic associations (eg, “Show me the PowerPoint deck with the purple text”). And because the requisite processing  is done on the PC with the NPU, Microsoft claims there are no privacy concerns. We are naturally skeptical of this claim, as Microsoft is famous for dark UX patterns that lead users to turn off the privacy features built into Windows.

We foresee other problems with the Copilot+ PC standard arising from the fragmented nature of Windows PC manufacturing. There are dozens of Windows PC makers who can choose from myriad combinations of processors, storage, and RAM. Copilot+ PC NPUs will be produced by Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm for use in PCs made by Acer, Asus, Dell, Samsung, HP, and Lenovo. Undoubtedly Copilot+ PCs will have a range of price points, with corresponding variability in performance. The best Copilot+ PC experience will certainly come from Microsoft itself in the form of its newest line of Copilot+ PC Surface laptops.

The Copilot+ PC experience is impressive but not quite revolutionary; it’s not much more than visual search. We don’t imagine many people rushing to replace their PCs for that. What remains to be seen is how features like Recall will be leveraged to automate and expedite our daily tasks. We predict that the biggest driver of the Copilot+ PC standard will be the integration of AI agents that proactively assist your workflow in real time – that is, actually do work – based on everything Recall has seen you do previously.

Checkout Upsell By Studio
Checkout Upsell by Studio is the latest Shopify app inspired by problems we’ve encountered working on our partner’s stores and brands. While there is no shortage of upsell applications in the Shopify marketplace, we wanted to offer a simple replacement for Shopify Plus stores that were still using legacy checkout code snippets to finally upgrade to a checkout extensibility application that presents clear, compelling upsells on store checkouts. Check out the Studio Blog for more information.