Microsoft Build 2025 is happening all week in Seattle, and I'm here in person to see what there is to learn at the company's annual developer conference.
The big news was announced in Microsoft chief Satya Nadella's Monday keynote, and it was all about AI. Between Microsoft bringing DeepSeek R1 models to Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs and Microsoft 365 Copilot debuting new research tools for work, it's clear AI remains a key priority for the company's software and services.
And while we didn't hear anything about Windows 12, the many ways in which Microsoft is trying to work AI into Windows 11 dominated the conversation around Build.
You can read our blog updates below for all the Build news we covered. And since Build isn't officially over, I'll continue updating this liveblog with all the demos and news I get to see and hear.
LIVE: LATEST UPDATES
What to expect from the keynote?
Microsoft Build will kick of this year with a two-hour keynote from CEO Satya Nadella and other execs discussing all the latest features and services Microsoft has been working on. And, spoiler alert, expect AI to be mentioned a lot.
Microsoft has spent the last year building out Copilot and this is where we'll hopefully see new features finally rolling out after spending several months in the preview stage. I'm expecting Copilot to be even further baked into Windows 11, giving users things like semantic search in areas of the operating system like Settings and File Explorer.
The keynote will kick off today (May 19) at 12PM ET/9AM PT/5pm BST
Will we hear about the Xbox handheld?
I'm very skeptical that Microsoft will reveal anything about its forthcoming Xbox handheld at Build this year. We know the device is currently in development with Asus but early rumors suggest Microsoft isn't doing any more than providing the Xbox UI.
Given how popular handheld gaming is right now, it's a safe way for Microsoft to experiment with Xbox without having to commit too many resources. Build is likely to be far more focused on Windows and Surface hardware than Xbox.
Still... considering Computex 2025 is also happening right now and there's likely to be a ton of cool handhelds breaking cover at that show, it would be nice if Microsoft could give us just a little tease at its own event...
Copilot agents
Back in September, Microsoft unveiled Copilot agents, which are basically AI assistants that can function autonomously to streamline various processes for you. The shift to agentic AI is probably going to be the next big thing for the industry and Microsoft will probably reveal more about how this is going to work at Build.
Agents are specialized and work within Microsoft 365 Copilot to organize and execute tasks on behalf of the user. So, you may have one agent tasked with searching out the right vacation location while another is scouring through archive documents as part of a research project you need to get done.
Microsoft has said users can @ mention the agent as you would any other teammate to ask questions and get real-time answers.
Microsoft's new Surface devices
Microsoft's Surface devices have dwindled a little in recent years, but the company's in-house laptops and hybrid 2-in-1s are still something of a head-turner. Redmond revealed details about its new Surface PCs earlier this month.
We've got a new 12-inch Surface Pro and a 13-inch Surface Laptop. They're both slightly smaller, lighter and less powerful than last year's models, but the upshot is they should last longer on a charge thanks to their lowered specs.
I guess if there's a silver lining here, it's that in a world of tariffs and rising prices, the new 2025 Surface Laptop 7 (13-inch) starts at $100 cheaper than the least expensive Surface Laptop 7 (13.8-inch). So, there's that.
- Read the full story: Microsoft unveils smaller, cheaper Surface Pro and Surface Laptop — everything you need to know
A possible new Microsoft-developed Copilot model
There have been some rumors that Microsoft is working on its own AI models to use in Copilot, rather than using those from ChatGPT-creator OpenAI. Currently, Copilot is built on OpenAI's GPT-4 model, so if Microsoft can break away from that — and show its own models are a compelling rival to OpenAI — the AI race will have taken another interesting turn.
Microsoft has invested up to $13 billion in OpenAI in a profit-share agreement and according to some reports, the latter is currently renegotiating the agreement ahead of plans to someday launch its IPO.
Microsoft therefore would probably do well to move its reliance away from OpenAI and develop its own models. We've already seen the Phi-4 model family announced at the start of this month.
Phone Link panel rolling out to Windows 11
Here's a small nugget of news ahead of Build kicking off today — Microsoft is making it easier to interact with your Android phone in Windows 11 by rolling out a dedicated Phone Link panel to the start menu.
Users will be able to find it on the right of the start menu with the panel showing things like your device's connection status and battery level. You'll also find buttons for direct access to messages, call history and image gallery.
If you're unfamiliar with Phone Link, it will even mirror your Android device's screen to your PC. Nice!
Windows 12 news is a long, long shot
Some industry analysts expected we may see our first glimpses of Windows 12 this year but instead we got the Windows 11 update 24H2, which introduced a load of new features. That being the case, I would not expect Windows 12 to get any kind of a mention at Build this year.
If and when Windows 12 does arrive, you can probably expect a fully-fledged shift to AI from the outset. But, with Windows 10 ending support on October 14, 2025, Microsoft will be much more concerned about migrating users over to Windows 11.
Microsoft Build officially kicks off!
And we are live with Microsoft Build 2025. Right now we're getting some pre-amble discussing developers' enthusiasm for working with AI. I think it's safe to say this is a pre-cursor to what expect during this event. If you're interested in AI, prepare for a ride!
Satya Nadella takes the stage!
And here we go! Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is here to officially kick off Microsoft Build 2025. Again, this will be an AI-focused event where the company will detail the latest developments in its AI ambitions.
An interuption
As Satya speaks, it sounds like some protestors are trying to disrupt the show. However, the CEO is continuing his speech. Does anyone feel like this is deja vu? The same thing happened during Microsoft's previous event.
Coding agent
Microsoft now has a new coding agent available on GitHub. Said agent will further help developers with bug fixes. It can add filters for user group size, among other things. In short, this (like most stuff announced at Build) is meant to make developers' lives easier via AI.
Sam Altman joins virtually
OpenAI's Sam Altman joins Build virtually. This was expected given how closely Microsoft and OpenAI are working together.
Sam discusses the latest developments, including how AI agents can help take on larger workloads than before. Altman says models will become smarter and more reliable. Quoting Steve Jobs, Sam says these tools "will just work."
The pace of AI
Sam discusses how fast AI is developing and how people working with AI changed their workflow to compensate with all the changes. AI is in a different state now than even a year ago, so it should become more powerful going forward.
Microsoft 365 updates
We're now hearing about the latest Microsoft 365 updates. As expected, Microsoft's slew of apps is now driven by AI. AI agents analyze multiple source files to put expertise at a developer's fingertips, according to Nadella.
Onboarding new partners
Developers will be able to onboard new partners with the use of agents, which should help everyone get on the same page faster. This will be helped by a new program called Copilot tuning.
Testing the new Microsoft 365
Miti Joshi takes the stage to show off some new Copilot features for Microsoft 365. One new feature is how the AI agent can use reasoning in whatever field it's working in. It not only pulls from your work data, but also from the internet.
Some demos
Miti is now demoing how the server can keep the AI agent updated with the latest data. Agents can even work with each other to tackle more complex workloads.
Evolving apps
One of the themes of this event is that AI has to be useful for multiple and varied tasks instead of specializing in one area. This is something companies believe, given the vast number of partners Microsoft now has using its AI tools.
AI tools to help folks communicate
MyEngine is an AI tool that people with loss of hearing can use to communicate with others. This tool is even capable of understanding regional dialects so that it can be more accurate. This is an excellent way that AI can help folks outside of big business.
Grok is coming to AI Azure
Elon Musk makes an appearance to discuss Grok 3.5 and the partnership he has with Microsoft. Grok will now be available on Azure, which should make the platform more efficient.
Grok 3.5 will be more accurate
Grok 3.5 will use the laws of physics and help minimize error. This last point is important since AI can sometimes be incorrect, which can be detrimental for both developers and users.
Foundry models
Satya is now detailing all the different models that Microsoft is utilizing for its AI programs and tools. This is good so that developers aren't just relegated to using a single model for their work. This, in turn, should yield faster and more accurate work.
Using AI to help cancer patients
As you can imagine, there's a lot of information in a cancer patient's medical records. The healthcare AI agent helps bring together all this disparate information to help doctors. This information can also be shared with community hospitals, ensuring that information can get out to the world
Improving AI agents
Kedasha Kerr takes the stage to show off how developers can improve AI agents to help tasks like trip planning be more efficient. This can be done by using different AI models to give users better results, since they'll see fewer AI hallucinations.
Working on simultaneous issues
Thanks to Github Copilot, developers will be able to take on multiple issues at once and take care of them faster than before. This should help streamline one's work.
New Windows updates
Nadella announces Windows AI Foundry. Developers can use it to build features. It can run across CPUs, GPUs, the cloud, and more. This is something Microsoft has used internally, but is now making it available for all Windows 11 developers.
Creating desktop apps in minutes
Divya Venkataramu takes the stage to show off another demo. Like the previous demo, this AI agent takes info from various sources to complete tasks. It can talk to new forms of databases in Windows.
WSL is now open source
Nadella announces that WSL is now open source. This was a question developers have had for decades, and Microsoft can now answer with "yes."
The agentic web
Kevin Scott takes the stage to discuss what Microsoft calls the "agentic web." That's a fancy way of saying an AI-powered internet.
Smarter agents
One of this event's themes has been building smarter AI agents that can recall things you may have asked it to do in the past. This should not only make agents more personal, but also allow them to remember important aspects of the tasks developers need them for. This also includes having agents take actions on one's behalf
Using agents to build websites
This was already teased before, but AI agents can help developers create websites much faster than ever. In fact, they can create multiple websites in a fraction of the time.
Why the open agentic web is important
The idea for an agentic web is to make it more open to as many developers as possible. This should allow for more developers to be creative and thus make the web better for everyone.
AI for NFL Combine
The NFL Combine used Microsoft's AI tools to help it. This is another example of how well AI agents can gather information for users and developers.
Chat with your data
Being able to chat with data will be useful for developers and this is something they'll be able to do thanks to Microsoft's AI tools.
Nvidia and Microsoft
Nvidia's Jensen Huang makes a virtual appearance to discuss how computing now works. Huang details how much faster AI has gotten in recent years. The Nvidia founder also discusses how CUDA can help accelerate workloads and how it can handle different kinds of workloads.
Better weather prediction
Predicting the weather isn't easy since it requires a lot of supercomputing power. With Microsoft's AI tools, the hope is to make predicting the weather better. The aim is to build a cloud-based supercomputer specifically for weather prediction.
Microsoft Discovery
Microsoft Discovery will be a new AI tool to help further scientific innovations across a slew of scientific fields. This will not only be for theories but for real-world simulations.
Using Microsoft Discover for research
John Link takes the stage to demo how Microsoft Discover can create solutions by utilizing data across many AI models. To be specific, he wants to create a new cooling solution. He uses several data points to feed to the AI to build the right workflow to complete the task.
Actual results
The demo wasn't just for show, as Microsoft developed a new coolant using Microsoft Discovery. That, as John Link rightly said, is pretty cool.
Closing things out
Satya Nadella gives his final thoughts. Based on what we saw, Microsoft is working hard at creating better and faster AI for developers, which in turn can help create better tools for users.
Demo time
Now that the Build 2025 keynote is wrapped up it's time to do some demos.
Microsoft has set up a small showcase here in Seattle where spokespeople are talking up how the company's new AI tools and features can help companies run businesses more effectively and efficiently.
It's all AI all the time here at Build
Microsoft's all in on AI at Build this year, and all the demos are showcasing how the company's new AI tools can help make work more efficient.
Here I'm watching someone talk up the new Github Copilot Coding Agent, an AI agent that can be tasked to do things like fix bugs in your code.
Day 2 kicks off with a keynote for developers
Day 2 of Build 2025 is starting with a developer keynote that's going to get into far more technical detail than company chief Satya Nadella and crew went into during yesterday's inaugural keynote.
I'm sitting in the keynote right now with a room full of developers watching two Microsoft engineers showing off the new ways coders can use Github Copilot to take care of boring, repetitive tasks. It's pretty interesting, but only if you're a programmer or someone who works with programmers.
That's a wrap...for now
Now that Microsoft Build is in full effect and the Day 2 keynote is basically over, there's not much left to do but watch developers network in the halls and attend sessions throughout the conference center.
I'm going to hit the floor to see what demos I can check out, so we'll keep this blog going in case anything exciting crops up at Build 2025.
That's a wrap for me
Build 2025 is going to keep going for a few more days, but I'm not. I've got to catch a plane home, so after one last walk through the conference floor I'm going to wind down this blog and head to the airport. If it's not clear enough already, this year Microsoft was all about AI and helping its developer partners use Copilot and the company's other AI tools more effectively with less hassle.
