What to expect at Microsoft's Windows, Surface and AI event on October 7

We'll definitely hear about the NVIDIA RTX Spark-powered Surface Laptop Ultra, but what else?

It's been two years since Microsoft launched Copilot+ AI PCs , its first major attempt at fostering AI-ready hardware, and the results have been mixed , to say the least. This month, the company is again gearing up to espouse the virtues of agentic AI, the latest trendy topic in the tech world, in San Francisco on October 7 . Microsoft describes the event as "a conversation on how local AI will shape the next chapter of the PC," and it will include notable guests like CEO Satya Nadella, head of Windows and Devices Pavan Davuluri and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.

Given the PC world's lack of enthusiasm for the Copilot+ initiative , the subsequent removal of intrusive Copilot+ features in Windows 11 and the tepid response to invasive features like Recall , Microsoft is going into this event on the defensive. Can it really whip up enthusiasm for the latest buzzy AI trend? Here's what we expect to see in San Francisco next week.

NVIDIA is once again claiming it will redefine PCs with its RTX Spark , the company's first major Arm-powered chip built for massive AI models on Windows laptops and desktops. The Surface Laptop Ultra, which was announced in June , is one of the first devices powered by RTX Spark, and from the brief glimpse we got earlier this year, it appears to be a direct competitor to Apple's powerful MacBook Pro. It sports a 15-inch mini-LED screen with up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness, a massive trackpad and all the ports you want.

But we still don't know how much the Surface Laptop Ultra will actually cost, and there's no concrete release date yet. I'd bet the company is saving up those crucial details for next week's event. I'd also bet it will be so expensive, only true AI diehards will want one. AMD recently launched its flagship AI desktop hardware, the Ryzen AI Halo , at $3,999, and NVIDIA's existing Linux-powered DGX Spark systems sell for $4,999 (up from $4,000 at launch).

Large AI models demand gobs of RAM to run locally, which is a major reason why these AI-focused systems are so exorbitant. To recap, the NVIDIA RTX Spark will feature 6,144 Blackwell GPU cores, 20 Arm CPU cores and up to 128GB of unified memory. The RTX Spark will also be less power-hungry than existing AI hardware, drawing up to only 80 watts of power.

I'm not expecting to be very surprised by the Surface Laptop Ultra. Aside from being one of the first systems with RTX Spark, it just seems to be another premium laptop. But I'm hoping to discover what inspired this poetic take on the notebook from Microsoft Corporate Vice President Brett Ostrum: "A machine like this should not sit still. It should be pushed. Taken to the edge. Used to make real what others call impossible. It belongs in the hands of world makers."

Microsoft isn't really keeping this a secret: The company wants us to know it's going to have some big agentic AI news next week. That comes on the heels of Meta launching its Muse AI agent , which quickly reached 5 million downloads, but also arrived with a serious 0-day flaw . Much like it did with Recall, Microsoft could easily run into unforeseen privacy issues with a true AI agent, which would potentially be able to see all of your files, your browsing history and act on your behalf.