Microsoft has announced the first major change to its keyboard in nearly 30 years with the introduction of a dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) assistant button.

The dedicated ‘Copiliot key’, which will summon Microsoft’s Bing-powered AI assistant of the same name, will begin rolling out on a variety of new PCs and laptops from Microsoft and its partners.

The ribbon-like key will replace the right CTRL button on some PCs and a menu key on others near the space bar.
Copilot promises to help users with a range of tasks such as summarising articles, searching online, making device setting changes or even creating music from scratch.

The design shift was announced by Microsoft ahead of CES, which kicks off next week in Las Vegas.

In an announcement video, Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft, said: “Nearly 30 years ago, we introduced the Windows key to the PC keyboard that enabled people all over the world to interact with Windows. We see this as another transformative moment in our journey with Windows where Copilot will be the entry point into the world of AI on the PC.”

The company has poured billions into AI development, including a 49 per cent stake in ChatGPT operator OpenAI. The company increased its influence at the AI startup with a non-voting observer position late last year following a whirlwind few days in which OpenAI fired and rehired its chief executive officer Sam Altman.

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