After 30 years there’s a new key coming to Windows keyboards

Microsoft wants you to know that its new Copilot AI features are a big enough deal that they need a dedicated key on a Windows keyboard to access them.

There’s almost something nostalgic about this. As the world’s software developers try to cram AI routines into as much of their code as possible, the way one of the mainstream companies at the forefront of the rollout flags this up is with a new key on a keyboard. 

Given the forthcoming Humane AI Pin and the likes of LG’s wheeled and mobile Smart Home AI Agent, the keyboard feels like a decidedly old-school interface style. Nevertheless, it is going to take a lot of replacing and much better tech than we have today to do so, so the new key as a shortcut to all things AI-powered makes sense.

The last time Microsoft did this sort of thing was 30 years ago when it introduced the Windows key to enable people to interact with Windows. 

“We see this as another transformative moment in our journey with Windows where Copilot will be the entry point into the world of AI on the PC,” writes Yusuf Mehdi, Executive Vice President and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft.

The new key sits next to the right-hand alt key on Windows keyboards, though that will vary with OEMs targeting different markets. Press it, and it will launch the Windows Copilot built into Windows 11, offering up an OpenAI chatbot that can answer queries, create images, polish text, change settings, and a lot more.

This is very much the direction Microsoft is heading. For those with long memories, it feels like it’s trying to compensate in some ways for missing out on the early explosive growth of the internet (when it kept its focus on CD-ROM for too long) by making sure it’s well and truly ahead of the curve this time around. Copilot has just recently appeared for iOS and iPad and looks set to weave its way ever tighter into the Windows ecosystem.

“In this new year, we will be ushering in a significant shift toward a more personal and intelligent computing future where AI will be seamlessly woven into Windows from the system to the silicon, to the hardware,” writes Mehdi. “This will not only simplify people’s computing experience but also amplify it, making 2024 the year of the AI PC.

The first of the new keyboards will appear from OEMs at CES and are already tapped for the new upcoming Surface devices. Couple that with the recent under-the-radar rebranding of Microsoft Edge as ‘the AI browser,’ and it’s clear that Microsoft is making a definite land grab for perceived AI supremacy.