Microsoft is entering the AI search battle with its own version that is now being tested with Windows 11 users and will be available for the public in the coming months. The AI search battle has kicked off with giants like Google and OpenAI offering their versions in the market, and Microsoft is understandably looking to enter the mix to help improve its stature in the AI race.

The Windows 11 beta version is giving us a glimpse of how the AI feature will work through Search but the support is limited to people who are using one of the latest Windows 11 laptops.

Windows 11 AI Search Test: What You Need

Microsoft is going one step at a time with the AI search which is not the recall feature that has faced privacy concerns earlier. The biggest issue with the new AI feature for Windows is that you need to have the latest Copilot Plus PCs that are available in the market.

The main reason for this limitation is linked to the hardware on these PCs that comes with a built-in NPU to process the AI queries on-device which keeps it secure for the users. This also means millions of Windows users will either have to forget using the AI tools or be forced to upgrade to the latest Snapdragon X-powered machines.

That’s not all, the Windows 11 AI search will work for local file formats like TXT, JPEG, PDF and PNG among others. The company does plan to integrate OneDrive cloud data to the service but that might need them to ditch the on-device support and link to the internet to make it work.

Going by these features, the Windows 11 AI search seems different from Google and OpenAI’s offering but a gradual evolution could change that picture in the near future.