Microsoft Copilot+ could be stamped on some RTX-4070 laptops by the end of this year.

Microsoft Copilot+ PCs aren't new. They've been around for a while and are ostensibly the spearhead of the fabled AI PC age. Microsoft has only ever given the Copilot+ sticker to computers that have an NPU. Nvidia, however, seems to suggest that non-NPU systems that have RTX GPUs will also be Copilot+ eligible by the end the year.

Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief finance officer, stated on a recent earnings conference call (via Motley Fool) that the company began shipping new GeForce RTX PCs in Q3 with up to 321 tops from Asus and MSI. Microsoft's Copilot+ functionality is expected in Q4. On a recent earnings call (via Motley Fool), Nvidia's chief financial officer Colette Kress said that in Q3, the company "began shipping new GeForce RTX AI PC with up to 321 AI TOPS from Asus and MSI, with Microsoft's Copilot+ capabilities anticipated in Q4.

Note the key phrase "with Microsoft Copilot+ capabilities expected in Q4".

Microsoft's official documentation states that the minimum requirements for a Copilot+ computer include "a compatible system on a chip (SoC)," which "currently includes both the Snapdragon X plus and the Snapdragon X elite."

Copilot+ does not mention GPUs because it is reserved for NPUs. These are AI-specific processing tiles that form part of a cohesive processor along with CPU and GPU tiles. These NPUs typically offer around 50 AI TOPS.

Nvidia has been hinting that we'll see some Copilot+ RTX PCs by the end of the year.

Note that the RTX mobile can offer 321 AI TOPS. It sounds like Nvidia is saying that there could be official Copilot+ RTX-4070 (and perhaps lower) laptops coming from Asus and MSI soon.

We all know GPUs can handle the processing required for AI. The Tensor Cores in Nvidia's GPUs are essentially AI acceleration cores.

While these cores are the backbone of datacentre AI graphics processors (AI accelerators), there are enough in the average Nvidia gaming graphics processor to perform some AI processing. This includes the basic consumer-grade AI processing that Microsoft Copilot features and apps require.

Microsoft has not yet awarded a Copilot+ badge for machines that have onlya GPU and no NPU, even though it has hinted it would do so in the future. Microsoft still has to acknowledge GPUs as part of its Copilot+ branding. This looks like it will happen soon.

This would also explain Nvidia's "AI PC" channel on social media. We're also hopeful that all this Nvidia AI PC chatter might eventually mean an all Nvidia Arm processor with RTX 4007 mobile performance.

If we're right about all this Copilot+ stuff then an all-Nvidia-processor would also be Copilot+-worthy. It looks like we're living in a brave, new world.