In an impressive display of technical prowess, Windows enthusiasts have managed to crack Microsoft's flagship AI-powered Recall feature, originally exclusive to new Copilot Plus PCs, and make it run on unsupported hardware. Recall utilizes local AI models on new Copilot Plus PCs to capture snapshots of users' activities on their computers, creating a timeline that users can search through for photos, documents, conversations, and more.

Microsoft had positioned Recall as a feature that required the latest neural processing units (NPU) found in new PCs. However, a Windows watcher named Albacore has developed a tool called Amperage, which enables Recall on devices with older Qualcomm Snapdragon chips, Microsoft's SQ processors, or an Ampere chipset. To use Amperage, users must have the latest Windows 11 24H2 update installed on their Arm-powered devices, opening up the possibility of using Recall on older hardware.

At the moment, this crack only works on older Windows on Arm hardware. However, with Copilot Plus PCs soon to be released by AMD and Intel, it is likely that this feature will be more widely accessible in the coming weeks or months. Microsoft has yet to publish its AI components for Intel and AMD-powered hardware, which are required to run Recall effectively on x86 devices.

Despite this limitation, there are rumors suggesting that both AMD and Intel are poised to announce their Copilot Plus PCs, hinting at the potential arrival of Microsoft's AI components for these machines in the near future. Some Windows enthusiasts have already managed to run Recall on a Windows 11 virtual machine, even though it has limited functionality without the necessary x64 AI components from Microsoft.

As Recall becomes available on older Arm-powered hardware, questions arise regarding Microsoft's decision to limit this and other AI-powered Windows features to new devices with more advanced NPUs, capable of performing over 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). While Microsoft may argue that the 40 TOPS requirement establishes a baseline for future AI-powered experiences, it also serves as a strategy to promote sales of new hardware. IDC estimates that PC sales will grow this year thanks to the arrival of AI-capable PCs, and the limited availability of AI features on older devices empowers Microsoft and its OEM partners to sell new hardware.

It remains to be seen if Microsoft will expand the availability of Copilot Plus PC features to existing hardware in the future. In the meantime, Windows enthusiasts continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, unlocking Recall functionality on unsupported devices and showcasing the potential versatility of AI features in Windows.

Source:
- Tom Warren, "You can now run Microsoft’s AI-powered Recall feature on older Arm-powered hardware" (The Verge