<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you’re doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The software giant on Monday revealed a new class of AI-imbued personal computers as it confronts heightened competition from Big Tech rivals in pitching generative AI technology that can compose documents, make images and serve as a lifelike personal assistant at work or home.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The announcements ahead of Microsoft’s annual Build developer conference centered on fusing its AI assistant, called Copilot, into the Windows operating system for PCs, where Microsoft already has the eyes of millions of consumers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The new features will include Windows Recall, giving the AI assistant what Microsoft describes as “photographic memory” of a person’s virtual activity. Microsoft promises to protect users’ privacy by giving them the option to filter out what they don’t want tracked, and keeping the tracking on the device.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We’re entering this new era where computers not only understand us, but can actually anticipate what we want and our intent,” Nadella said at an event at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The conference that starts Tuesday in Seattle follows big AI announcements last week from rival Google, as well as Microsoft’s close business partner OpenAI, which built the AI large language models on which Microsoft’s Copilot is based.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Google rolled out a retooled search engine that periodically puts AI-generated summaries over website links at the top of the results page; while also showing off a still-in-development AI assistant Astra that will be able to “see” and converse about things shown through a smartphone’s camera lens.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ChatGPT-maker OpenAI unveiled a new version of its chatbot last week, demonstrating an AI voice assistant with human characteristics that can banter about what someone’s wearing and even attempt to assess a person’s emotions. The voice sounded so much like Scarlett Johansson playing an AI character in the sci-fi movie “Her” that OpenAI dropped the voice from its collection Monday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">OpenAI also rolled out a new desktop version of ChatGPT designed for Apple’s Mac computers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Next up is Apple’s own annual developers conference in June. Apple CEO Tim Cook signaled at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in February that it has been making big investments in generative AI.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some of Microsoft’s announcements Monday appeared designed to blunt whatever Apple has in store. The newly AI-enhanced Windows PCs will start rolling out on June 18 on computers made by Microsoft partners Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung, as well as on Microsoft’s Surface line of devices. But they’ll be reserved for premium models starting at $999. - AP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>