It looks like Microsoft could be planning to market Windows 11 AI features under the “Windows Intelligence” moniker. Does that sound too familiar? Apple also uses a similar branding, but it’s called “Apple Intelligence.”
Microsoft is betting big on “AI”, with Copilot and other AI-related features rolling out on every platform that the company owns (pretty much). Windows 11 24H2, which is Windows 11’s second biggest update, promises to add as many as five new AI features in the coming months, with several others already rolling out.
According to references spotted in “appprivacy.adml,” Microsoft is exploring greater control for apps that rely on AI. It’s using interesting branding here: “Windows Intelligence.” The references in the code refer to controlling which apps can use AI features in Windows 11 24H2 and newer.
There are three options:
- letting users decide which apps can access AI.
- forcing certain apps to always have access.
- or blocking specific apps from using AI, no matter what the user wants.
These apps are identified by their unique names (Package Family Names).
However, this article is not about these AI privacy controls.
What’s interesting is the use of Windows Intelligence branding.
Notably, Microsoft has previously used “Windows Intelligence” for special Windows security updates, and I’ve covered it in the past. This mention is interesting because it’s related to AI.
It closely resembles “Apple Intelligence,” which refers to iOS-related AI features.
It’s also worth noting that references to a similar moniker, “Windows AI”, were previously spotted in a Group Policy earlier this year.
“Windows AI” might have been the old name for these features, but they use names like Copilot for most of the features. It’s possible Microsoft is moving forward with a new “Windows Intelligence” moniker.
AI features coming to Windows 11 24H2
Windows Intelligence or AI in Windows goes beyond just Recall. Recall is just one of the good features, but there’s more to come.
We’ve already highlighted the five big AI upgrades coming to Windows 11, but there have been reports of other changes as well, which never shipped, including “Cowriter” in Notepad.
Cowriter in Notepad was supposed to help you write texts in Notepad using ChatGPT-powered AI. It had features like the ability to change the length, tone, and format of the texts. You could have also given it specific instructions and “prompt” that the AI needs to follow.
But this idea has not shipped yet.
Another potential new AI feature could be “Copilot in File Explorer“, which will allow you to directly send pictures or files to the Copilot app, but that idea is also on hold due to recent Copilot changes.
Microsoft has confirmed that it plans to ship “Click To Do”, which is an AI overlay feature that appears above the screen and allows you to analyze the content. The second big change is AI-powered Windows Search, which uses natural language to help you search pictures and files in your local storage.
These features could soon be clubbed under the “Windows Intelligence” moniker as Microsoft’s answer to Apple Intelligence.
