Microsoft Quietly Kills the ‘Copilot Plus PC’ Brand After Recall Backlash

Microsoft has officially abandoned the "Copilot Plus PC" branding for its hardware ecosystem, a shift confirmed directly by its Surface division leadership. Despite meeting all the required AI system specifications, the new 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop will not carry the Copilot moniker. Qualcomm's compute division has also acknowledged the brand's demise, indicating that partner computers offering similar experiences will likely drop the naming convention. The retreat follows intense user backlash against the heavily promoted Recall feature, forced software upsells, and the universally criticized dedicated Copilot keyboard key. Microsoft is scheduled to host a conversation on local AI on October 7th, signaling a pivot toward Nvidia chips to power its next flagship generation under a new identity. “These are not called Copilot Plus PCs.” — Brett Ostrom