Microsoft will let Copilot act on local files on Windows PCs

Microsoft is giving Copilot greater control over Windows PCs, allowing the AI assistant to organize and make changes to local files, and run certain tasks using on-device AI models. The changes were announced at Microsoft’s Hybrid Intelligence event, where it outlined plans to combine local and cloud AI processing to help customers reduce AI costs and retain more control over data. Three new Copilot capabilities will be available to Copilot+ PC users “in the coming months,” Microsoft said. One is the ability for Copilot to access local files and recent user activity, providing additional context for the AI assistant’s outputs. Copilot will also be able to perform actions on a device, such as moving files and changing settings. “It has the same level of the ability to control and change things that I do as a user, but always with permission,” said Jacob Andreou, Microsoft EVP, Copilot, during the event. The capability sounds similar to Copilot Actions, an “experimental” feature that Microsoft announced last year in preview for Windows Insiders at the time. Finally, there will be an option to run Copilot on local AI models for certain tasks, only accessing cloud servers “when needed…

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