18‑Core Snapdragon PCs & Free Copilot Chat: A Week of Surprises

Qualcomm unveiled laptop chips with 18 cores and an 80‑TOPS AI engine, promising multi‑day battery life and remote device control. Meanwhile, Microsoft is quietly giving away AI chat in Office, and opening its Copilot platform to Anthropic’s Claude models.

Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode of This Week in IT.

Links and resources

• Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and X2 Elite
• Microsoft Brings Free Copilot Chat to Microsoft 365 Apps
• Satya Nadella says “our multi-model approach goes beyond choice’ as Microsoft adds Claude AI models to 365 Copilot | IT Pro

Episode overview

Qualcomm has announced its next-generation ARM chips for Windows laptops, the X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme, expected in devices in the latter half of next year. Extreme features memory and CPU on the same die for faster performance, significant improvements in graphics with a new Adreno GPU, and an enhanced AI engine capable of multitasking AI tasks locally. They also support Wi-Fi 7, 5G modems, Bluetooth 5.4, and include Snapdragon Guardian for remote device management.

• Qualcomm’s X2 Elite Extreme chip innovations: The flagship chip integrates memory and CPU on the same die, offers a 75% faster CPU at the same power level, and a 78% faster AI processing unit compared to previous versions.
• Graphics and AI improvements: The new Adreno GPU promises significant performance gains, addressing past criticisms, and the Hexagon NPU supports concurrent complex AI tasks with improved power efficiency.
• Connectivity and security features: The chips will support Wi-Fi 7, 5G, Bluetooth 5.4, and include Snapdragon Guardian for out-of-band remote device management like locating, locking, and wiping unresponsive devices.
• Challenges for Windows on ARM adoption: Compatibility issues, especially for enterprise customers, remain a barrier, with Microsoft favoring Intel versions for business devices, limiting ARM devices primarily to consumers.
• Microsoft’s AI updates in Office and Copilot: Microsoft is introducing a free AI chat feature in Office applications that does not require a Copilot license but has limited organizational knowledge access. Additionally, Microsoft is integrating Anthropics’ Claude AI models into paid Copilot versions to diversify AI solutions beyond OpenAI.