Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella speaks at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on May 20, 2024.
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Microsoft Microsoft said on Wednesday it will roll out its controversial AI-powered search feature Recall to Windows users for testing starting in October.
Recall takes screenshots of activity on the screen so people can look up information they’ve previously viewed. Security researchers quickly raised concerns about the risks of Windows automatically taking screenshots, without users choosing to. The researchers released open-source software that showed how attackers could easily access personal information. Microsoft responded in June, saying that Recall would be turned off by default. It also committed to security improvements for the feature.
Microsoft didn’t specify a broader launch date for Windows PCs that meet the system requirements for Recall, which the company calls Copilot+ PCs. Microsoft unveiled this new class of Windows PCs from a variety of hardware makers that can run AI workloads and showed off Recall running on them at an event in May.
Microsoft corporate vice president of Windows and Devices, Pavan Davuluri, speaks about the recall during the Microsoft Briefing event on May 20 in Redmond, Washington, on May 20, 2024.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images
Hardware makers are keen to show that people can run AI models on their own computers, rather than relying on cloud-based servers from OpenAI or other companies to serve their requests. apple Microsoft has launched MacBooks that can run AI models, and Microsoft's latest Surface Pro is a Copilot+ computer that can also run native AI.
The timing of Recall’s widespread release could be crucial. Consumers may be more interested in buying new PCs during the holiday season if Microsoft rolls out Recall to all supported devices by then.
“As part of our commitment to delivering a reliable and secure Recall (Preview) experience on Copilot+ PCs to customers, we’re sharing an update that Recall will be available to Windows Insiders starting in October,” Microsoft said in a Wednesday update to a June blog post. “As previously shared on June 13, we’ve adjusted our release approach to leverage the valuable expertise of the Windows Insider community before making Recall available to all Copilot+ PCs.”
Security has become a top priority for Microsoft employees. In the current fiscal year, which began July 1, the company will evaluate cybersecurity contributions in employee reviews, which will be factored into pay. The company promised to revamp security operations after a Department of Homeland Security report in April about Chinese hacking of U.S. government officials’ Microsoft email accounts raised concerns.
“We continue to prioritize security above everything else,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told analysts on a conference call in July.