Microsoft is launching its first Surface PCs with a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard for quick chatbot access, CNBC reports.

This marks the biggest change to the computer keyboard in decades. Although the tech giant isn’t the biggest seller of PCs – that distinction belongs to Lenovo – it runs the most popular Windows operating system. Lenovo has announced its own computers with Copilot keys, as have Dell and HP.

When users type a few words into Copilot, which uses artificial intelligence models from OpenAI, servers in remote data centers do the necessary computational work to produce a response. Microsoft named the new machines as AI PCs.

The key that allows users to open the Copilot panel at any time on the right side of the screen helps with this. Each computer has an Intel processor
Core Ultra, which contains a dedicated neural processing unit, or NPU.

Surface computers have had NPUs since 2019.

When these NPUs are in a computer, the benefits include faster responses and better security. Recently added artificial intelligence features in Windows 11, such as automatic audio transcription and eye contact simulation during video calls, are run by the NPU, which frees up the rest of the chip for other tasks.

“We’re excited to bring to market devices that deliver great AI experiences for our customers,” Microsoft said.

The company reports that this is just the first part of its quest to provide consumers and organizations with improved devices that will not only boost their productivity, but also save some of their time on certain tasks.

The button’s introduction comes two weeks after Apple unveiled the MacBook Air laptops, which feature an upgraded Neural Engine accelerator in the custom M3 chip.