Intel leak hints at Windows 12 with AI focus

An insider leaf_hobby posted on Twitter details about a processor on the Intel Meteor Lake platform, with specifications listing Windows 12 support. This is reported by The Verge.

As of writing, the leaf_hobby tweet has been deleted. According to VideoCardz, the new generation of processors will include 20 PCIe Gen5 lanes and support for Microsoft’s next version of the OS.

Although the tech giant has not announced any plans for Windows 12, there are already signs that the company is considering integrating AI features.

“When we start developing future versions of Windows, we will think about other places where AI should play a natural role in terms of user experience,” said Yusuf Mehdi, head of consumer marketing at Microsoft.

The comment followed a statement by Panos Panay, head of the OS development division, at CES 2023:

“AI is going to reinvent everything you do in Windows.”

The Surface team also hinted at how AI could change the ways people use PCs.

If Microsoft really plans to use AI more broadly in the next version of Windows, it will need close cooperation with Intel and AMD to optimise chips. Presumably this is why the chipmaker showed early interest in the forthcoming OS.

Earlier, AMD released mobile Ryzen 7000 processors. The company said they were the first to create an x86 chip with hardware acceleration for artificial intelligence.

As a result, laptops on the Ryzen 7000 platform work with a suite of Windows Studio Effects. These plugins, including background-noise removal and eye contact, are typically available for ARM-based hardware with a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU).

Meteor Lake is also expected to have hardware AI support. Chips on this platform are slated for release by the end of 2023 or early 2024.

Apple and Intel/AMD appear to have entered the AI race with Apple’s newer processors. The M2 features a dedicated AI chip capable of processing up to 15.8 trillion operations per second — 40% more than the M1.

Apple uses its Core ML platform to run machine learning models on Macs, accelerating tasks such as speech recognition and image processing. The energy efficiency of AI operations is achieved by using an NPU instead of a CPU or GPU.

Media outlets also reported that Microsoft is returning to a three-year Windows release cycle. Estimates suggest the next version of the OS could be released in 2024.

In February 2023, Microsoft released Moment 2 update for Windows 11 featuring AI-powered features.

In September 2022 the company released its 13th-generation processors, code-named Raptor Lake.