What might Microsoft announce at its 50th anniversary Copilot event?

Tomorrow, Microsoft turns 50 years old. To celebrate, it’s holding a special live-streamed event on its campus where it intends to make some “consumer AI” related announcements. The event is officially dubbed a Copilot event, but what might that entail?

The company has remained tight-lipped about what exactly it will announce, and it’s done a good job at keeping leaks to a minimum, too. I don't know what's on the agenda for April 4, but that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate about what Microsoft might be looking to announce, right?

Whatever does get announced on April 4, Microsoft thought it big enough to invite select members of the press to attend. So, with that in mind, here’s what I think (or rather, hope) Microsoft will announce on Friday.

More Copilot+ features?

I’m seriously hoping Copilot+ PCs get a look-in at this event, if only because it’s Microsoft’s 50th celebration, and I feel Windows needs to be part of it in some capacity. Microsoft is calling this a Copilot event, and I think it's fair to say Copilot+ falls under that umbrella.

Last year, Microsoft announced Windows Recall, Click To Do, and AI in Search as the star Copilot+ experiences. Unfortunately, most of these are yet to ship, so maybe we’ll get an update on the whereabouts of those features on April 4.

But I’m hoping Microsoft actually spends some time announcing some new Copilot+ experiences. So far, the feature set that’s supposed to differentiate Copilot+ PCs from AI PCs and even standard Windows 11 PCs hasn't been very impactful, so Microsoft needs to make some big moves here.

I’ve heard that Microsoft is working on “proactive" Copilot experiences for Windows 11. Sources say these experiences will ambiently integrate Copilot across the Windows interface so that it can surface suggestions and actions based on what’s on your screen.

Microsoft actually already announced this at the Copilot+ event last year and was supposed to debut by the end of 2024. That never happened, and it’s flown under the radar since, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft “reannounces” it on April 4.

These proactive Copilot experiences are a big deal, and are the first real example of AI being woven across the Windows UX to increase productivity. Copilot will be able to present actions in areas like context menus, notifications, and even the Start menu, based on your current workflow.

I’ve always believed that AI is at its best when it can work automatically without requiring user input first. These proactive Copilot experiences will be the first example of this, rivaling the things that Apple has promised on the Mac with Apple Intelligence.

Microsoft also showcased the ability to stream your desktop to Copilot so that it can actively see what you’re doing and provide suggestions and help in real time. The example used was Minecraft, but I understand this will work with any app when it’s ready.

Hopefully, these advanced Copilot features that Microsoft already announced last year weren’t just vaporware and are actually intended to ship this year. April 4 would be a great place to refocus attention on these next-gen Copilot experiences.

First look at Copilot for TVs?

In January, both Samsung and LG announced that their TVs would soon be getting access to Copilot, but never showed off what this would look like. Given that Microsoft is holding a Copilot event on April 4, I wouldn’t be surprised if they briefly show this off.

Because how else will they fill an hour?

NotebookLM-like features for Copilot?

I’ve been hearing for a while now that Microsoft is working on a new Copilot feature that lets you provide it with multiple sources of information, including audio sources, to create a database from which the AI assistant can draw from.

I don’t know much more about it, but after doing some research, I found that it sounds similar to Google’s NotebookLM. Microsoft currently doesn’t have an answer to NotebookLM, which has proven popular in recent months.

Microsoft’s own AI models for Copilot?

It’s an open secret that Microsoft has been building its own LLMs to lessen its reliance on OpenAI. Nobody really knows when this will be ready, but April 4 seems like a good place to announce that it’s in the works, at the very least.

I think it's interesting that Sam Altman hasn't even teased that he's going to be present at this event, which could suggest OpenAI has nothing to do with it. This hasn't been the case with prior Copilot events, so I think this one might be likely.

That is, unless Microsoft is keeping him as a surprise, for some reason.

New Surface hardware?

To me, and I think most people, announcing new Surface hardware seems like a no-brainer for the company’s 50th anniversary, especially if the hardware is Copilot+ capable.

However, I have it on good authority that this won’t be happening on April 4. Microsoft intends to launch new, smaller Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices this spring, but it won't happen for at least another month, unfortunately.

But don't worry — we already know pretty much everything about this next wave of hardware.

A look at the future of computing?

Given that this is Microsoft’s 50th anniversary celebration, I can’t help but hope that the company will set the stage for the next 50 years by teasing what might be coming next in computing and AI.

While I doubt Microsoft is ready to announce something like AGI, the company could take this opportunity to showcase its vision for a true “AI OS” built from the ground up with Copilot as an orchestrator for everything you do.

I’ve been hearing for a while now that the company has been exploring something internally called the “conversational shell,” which is supposed to be a complete rethinking of the desktop interface powered by AI experiences.

Satya Nadella has teased in the past that he thinks AI will fundamentally change what an OS interface can be, and I understand this conversational shell effort is an attempt to realize this idea.

Details on this effort are still light, but I hear it’s quite different from the Windows UX we have today. Much of the experience is built around interacting with Copilot to enter workflows and complete tasks.

The vision places Copilot at the heart of everything you do, becoming a true personal assistant that keeps context and knows who you are. In many ways, the OS is the AI assistant, capable of bringing apps and files to you based on your intent.

As part of this, I've also heard that Microsoft has prototyped a Copilot feature that would allow the assistant to reach into apps or websites on your behalf to complete actions. This is a feature Honor has already announced for its phones (via Wired).

If Microsoft were to announce this conversational shell effort, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did so under a name like “Copilot OS,” given how different and forward-leaning the experience is compared to Windows 11.

Of course, whether this will be announced on April 4 is anyone’s guess. For all I know, the conversational shell effort is an exploration that will never see the light of day. But it’s nice to dream.

With that in mind, I can’t think of a better place to showcase something like this than at Microsoft’s own 50th anniversary event. It ties in nicely with Copilot and Windows, and neatly sets the stage for the next 50 years of computing.

A big surprise?

Microsoft could have something up its sleeve that absolutely no one is expecting, and that would be incredible. I really hope Microsoft does have something big to announce, because I can't think of anything more disappointing for a 50th anniversary than an hour of minor Copilot feature and service updates in an attempt to stay relevant among the other AI services on the market.

But that's just what I think. What do you think Microsoft will announce on April 4? Let me know in the comments.