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Something to look forward to: Windows Recall is an AI feature that periodically screencaps everything you in your PC to provide Microsoft’s generative AI a sort of “memory.” It was supposed to be a flagship feature of the new Copilot+ PCs, however Microsoft was forced to delay the rollout following serious security complaints. A beta of Recall is now set to go live later this year, though the details of its public release remain unclear.
Recall, Microsoft’s delayed AI recording feature for Windows, will be available to beta testers starting in October. The company is still working to address privacy concerns surrounding the technology, which captures all activity on Windows 11 PCs.
Microsoft originally planned to make Recall available to everyone who purchased a new Copilot+ PC when they began shipping in June. The company promoted the feature as a lynchpin of its generative AI strategy.
PCs with sufficiently powerful neural processing units (NPUs) would periodically take screenshots of user actions while using OCR to read text from those screenshots. These stored “memories” would enable Microsoft’s Copilot AI to recall programs, files, and actions based on natural language descriptions from users.
For example, users could ask Copilot to retrieve a specific file by describing who sent it, when it was received, and through which application, without needing to know the exact file name or location. Microsoft initially attempted to address privacy concerns by confirming that records would not be sent to the cloud and that users would have control over what Recall saved.
Unfortunately (for Microsoft), security researcher Kevin Beaumont soon discovered that Recall stored OCR files in plaintext and used insufficient encryption for other data. While user encryption might protect the information from physical theft, Beaumont pointed out that existing information-stealing trojans could easily be adapted to snoop on Recall.
In response, Microsoft made the feature opt-in but later launched the Copilot+ PCs without Recall, promising to announce a Windows Insider release date – which we now know is set for October.
The company will reveal more details when the beta begins and will incorporate feedback into the eventual public launch.
If Microsoft continues developing Recall, its full debut may coincide with the release of Copilot features on other Windows PCs. Microsoft’s locally processed GenAI is currently limited to Snapdragon chipsets with NPUs, but upcoming x86 processors like AMD Ryzen 9000 and Intel Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake will also feature NPUs and will receive full Copilot support through future updates.
