Microsoft dropping Copilot+ PC branding makes sense when every machine is AI-capable

Microsoft appears to be quietly moving away from the Copilot+ PC name after spending the past couple of years pushing it as a way to identify Windows laptops with built-in AI capabilities.

The change was spotted on the latest Surface machines, which meet the same hardware requirements previously associated with Copilot+ PCs but don’t carry the branding. Speaking to Windows Central, Surface CVP Brett Ostrum stopped short of explicitly saying the programme was ending, but made the change fairly clear.

Ostrum added that the new Surface devices still meet the previous requirements for Copilot+ devices and that Microsoft remains focused on “AI on the edge” and hybrid computing. In other words, the hardware requirements aren’t necessarily going anywhere; it’s the branding that appears to be on its way out.

Microsoft introduced the Copilot+ PC label in 2024 as a way of separating Windows laptops with hardware capable of running its newer AI…