Microsoft and Nvidia bet on Windows PCs that run AI models without the cloud

Microsoft and longtime partner Nvidia on Wednesday started taking orders for a new line of high-end Windows PCs built to run large AI models on the machine itself, unveiled at an event in San Francisco where Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared the stage with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

ADVERTISEMENT

ARQS OFFERIs your business AI-ready?Get a focused AI Readiness Audit with practical next steps.$99 one-timeStart the audit →

Microsoft also announced Windows Hybrid Intelligence, a set of features that will let its Copilot assistant draw on the files on a PC, take actions such as moving files and changing settings, and hand tasks to models running locally when cost or privacy matter more. Copilot will still use the cloud for the hardest jobs and will act on the PC only with the user's permission. The features are expected to begin rolling out on Copilot+ PCs in the coming months.

To limit what AI agents can reach, Microsoft made Microsoft Execution Containers generally available in Windows 11, letting organizations set which files and networks an agent can touch. Microsoft said OpenAI's Codex already supports the technology and that Anthropic's Claude Code and Perplexity plan to.

The new machines are built around Nvidia's RTX Spark chip. Microsoft's 15-inch Surface Laptop Ultra, with up to 128GB of memory, starts at $2,599 and arrives Oct. 16 alongside similar laptops from Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and MSI, while the $5,999 Surface RTX Spark Dev Box ships in the U.S. in November. "If not for Windows, Nvidia wouldn't have been founded," Huang said.