Microsoft Ignite 2024 announcements: Copilot Actions, custom AI chips, Windows 365 Link, and more

“We are building out three platforms: Copilot, Copilot devices, and Copilot & AI stack,” he said. “What lean did for manufacturing, AI will do for knowledge work. It’s all about increasing value and reducing waste,” Nadella said.

Here are all the major announcements from Microsoft Ignite 2024.

Copilot Actions

At Tuesday’s event, Microsoft introduced a new AI agent feature called Copilot Actions that lets Microsoft 365 Copilot users automate repetitive tasks such as filing weekly reports, summarising actions taken in Teams meetings, and more.

With Copilot Actions, users can direct AI agents to carry out back-office work and leave them to run these tasks on their own, eliminating the need to input prompts. These AI agents “can operate around the clock to review and approve customer returns or go over shipping invoices to help businesses avoid costly supply-chain errors,” Microsoft said in a blog post.

The company also announced that it is bringing AI agents to its content management platform SharePoint. It further revealed that PowerPoint users will be able to translate entire presentations into other languages using AI.

Interpreter in Teams

Speaking of AI-powered translation, Microsoft said that participants in a Teams meeting will be able to speak or listen in their preferred language. The interpreter feature in Teams simulates a participant’s voice in another language using real-time, AI-powered speech-to-speech translation.

The interpreter feature will support up to nine languages and will be rolled out for preview in early 2025.

Microsoft Places

Microsoft has launched a new app called Places that uses AI and a dedicated location plan to help users let their work colleagues know on which days they will be heading into the office. The app is expected to be integrated with Copilot soon, according to a report by The Verge.

Custom-made AI chips

Microsoft said it has designed two home-grown silicon chips that will help speed up AI applications and increase data security. The additional AI infrastructure will be installed in Microsoft’s data centres.

Designing AI chips that are customised to its needs could also help the software giant reduce its dependence on processors supplied by Nvidia and Intel.

Rani Borkar, corporate vice president, Azure Hardware Systems and Infrastructure, said that the company’s custom chip-making efforts are aimed at “optimising every layer of infrastructure” in order for its data centres to process information at the speed required for Microsoft’s AI applications.

A new security chip called Azure Integrated HSM will be installed in every server at a Microsoft-run data centre from 2025, according to a report by Reuters. The company also announced a new cooling system that can support large-scale AI systems as it uses liquid to bring down the temperature of nearby components of the servers in data centres.

Windows 365 Link

Microsoft has launched a new miniature PC device called Windows 365 Link that can be used to securely connect to Windows 365 in seconds. It comes with a $349 price tag and can be used to stream a version of Windows 11 on any device.

Front and side view of Windows 365 Link. (Image: Microsoft)

“The combination of cloud-powered performance and local processing makes Windows 365 Link an ideal solution for IT professionals seeking to enhance productivity for desk-based workers in their organization,” the company said in a blog post.

Windows 365 Link is a compact, fan-less, and easy-to-use device that can turn local monitors into Windows 365 cloud PCs.

The company is also looking to use AI in order to improve Windows search on Copilot Plus PCs. This upgrade would allow users to search for documents, photos, and other files more easily by describing them. It is expected to roll out early next year.

Additionally, Meta and Microsoft are working together to improve the virtual reality (VR) experience of using Windows on the social media giant’s Quest 3 and Quest 3S. Windows 11 will be available on the mixed-reality headsets from this December onwards, Microsoft announced.

Windows Resiliency Initiative

Microsoft has been looking to ramp up the security of its products and services since the CrowdStrike incident that took down over 8.5 million Windows PCs and servers in July this year. In keeping with this, the big tech company has announced a new blueprint known as the Windows Resiliency Initiative that proposes to make core changes to the operating software in order to let customers recover their Windows IT systems more easily.

The newly-launched security initiative will focus on the following areas, as per Microsoft’s blog post:

– Strengthen reliability based on learnings from the incident we saw in July.
– Enabling more apps and users to run without admin privileges.
– Stronger controls for what apps and drivers are allowed to run.
– Improved identity protection to prevent phishing attacks.

One of the reasons why the Windows outage lasted as long as it did is because a known workaround for the ‘blue screen of death’ was to manually boot every system that crashed in the outage. Now, Microsoft has announced a new feature called Quick Machine Recovery that “will enable IT administrators to execute targeted fixes from Windows Update on PCs, even when machines are unable to boot, without needing physical access to the PC.”

“This remote recovery will unblock your employees from broad issues much faster than what has been possible in the past,” it added. It will be available for preview to users who are part of the Windows Insider programme from early 2025, the company said.

Microsoft will also be conducting an in-person, invite-only hacking event called Zero Day Quest next year. “This new hacking event will be the largest of its kind, with an additional $4 million in potential awards for research into high-impact areas, specifically cloud and AI,” Tom Gallagher, VP of engineering at Microsoft’s security response centre, said.