Microsoft will be holding a special press event in New York City on Thursday, September 21. While we expected that it would officially reveal a number of new Surface PC hardware refreshes, it looks like it will also have a lot of software news as well, particularly on the AI features front.
The Verge reports that Yusuf Mehdi, the head of consumer marketing at Microsoft, sent out an internal memo to employees. He hinted strongly that Thursday's event will expand on Microsoft's efforts to put AI features in many of its software and hardware projects.
The memo stated in part:
This Thursday at our event in NYC, we’ll share the next step we’ll take to further build on this work and lead in this exciting new era. I will keep the news of this event confidential until we tell the world later this week, but it will lay out the vision for what’s ahead.
Microsoft has gone all in on the AI front in 2023, starting with its Bing Chat chatbot reveal in February and expanding to its Microsoft 365 Copilot and Windows Copilot services. The company is also expected to officially launch, or at least announce the launch date, for the next major Windows 11 update, version 23H2, on Thursday as well.
Microsoft is holding the event just a few days after Panos Panay, its long-time Windows and Surface leader, announced his decision to leave the company after 19 years. He is rumored to be jumping ship to Microsoft's rival Amazon to take over as the head of its hardware division.
As a result, Microsoft got something of a reorganization at the top this week. That included the reveal that Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft's head of Advertising and Web Services, will become the leader of an all-new Windows and Web Experiences Team. The Verge posted part of Mehdi's memo that mentions this new change:
By bringing together Windows, Web, and Services into one team under Mikhail Parakhin, we give ourselves the opportunity to reimagine our software offering and the consumer experience in an Al and Copilot-first world.
Pavan Davuluri will now be in charge of Microsoft's hardware efforts, according to Mehdi's memo. That means he will be handling future Surface products, along with other devices and the company's chip business.
While Thursday should be a big reveal day for Microsoft in several areas of its business, Mehdi stated in the memo that the company has even more to announce "coming soon in the weeks and months ahead."
