Microsoft Shows Windows AI Agents With Nvidia-Powered Surface Laptop Ultra

Engadget’s coverage of Microsoft’s Windows and Surface event put the company’s next PC push around two connected bets: AI agents running inside Windows and a new Surface Laptop Ultra built on Nvidia silicon.

The software side moves Copilot closer to the operating system rather than leaving it as a separate assistant.

With user permission, Copilot will be able to act on local files, run some models on the device and call on cloud computing when a task needs more capacity.

Microsoft also showed app and widget generation, a more expressive Copilot icon and a broader push to make Windows search behave more like an action surface.

That search change is meant to put quick commands in the taskbar.

Users are expected to be able to switch on dark mode, capture a screenshot, adjust volume, get answers or send text messages from the same place they already use to look for files and apps.

Microsoft is also adding a Get Started tool for Windows agents, with Portable Computer running locally and Muse arriving as a native Windows app.

The design choice creates a trust problem as well as a product opportunity.

Microsoft framed Windows as a secure platform for local AI agents and emphasized a hybrid model that splits work between the PC and the cloud.

The same direction will test how many users want agents touching personal files after earlier pushback against Recall and some Copilot features that were later pulled from Windows.

Surface Laptop Ultra gives that software strategy new hardware to run on.

The 15-inch machine uses a mini-LED display rated up to 2,000 nits, keeps Microsoft’s taller 3:2 screen shape and includes a trackpad 30 percent larger than the one on the seventh-generation Surface Laptop.

The system weighs under 4.5 pounds, measures less than 18mm thick and adds more ports than recent Surface laptops, including USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, a headphone jack and a full-size SD card reader.

The bigger shift is the processor.

Surface Laptop Ultra runs on Nvidia’s Arm-based RTX Spark system-on-a-chip, which Microsoft positioned as powerful enough for developer and creator work as well as Copilot+ requirements.

The chip includes GPU capability compared with a GeForce RTX 5070, support for ray tracing, DLSS and Nvidia Reflex, and an NPU for AI workloads.

Microsoft also highlighted 20 CPU cores, configurations with up to 128GB of unified memory and a power draw that does not exceed 80W.

Gaming and repairability were part of the pitch.

Microsoft showed Gears of War: E-Day running on the laptop and indicated that Call of Duty would be available on the system later this year.

The machine also has a replaceable SSD, a detail that matters if the device is expected to serve as a high-end development or creator workstation rather than a sealed consumer PC.

Microsoft’s port and charging choices also signal a workstation-style pitch.

The laptop includes a magnetic charging option that uses a standard USB-C port, giving the Surface line an answer to the MagSafe-style convenience that professional laptop buyers often expect while keeping ordinary USB-C charging in the design.

The price keeps the launch firmly in premium territory.

Surface Laptop Ultra starts at $2,599, with pre-orders open now and availability set for Oct. 16.

Microsoft also priced the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a mini PC aimed at heavier AI workloads, from $5,999 with pre-orders open.

Together, the products make the event less a single device launch than a hardware lane for Windows agents, local AI models and developer workloads that Microsoft wants to keep on PCs.