Notepad Goes Private: Microsoft Adds On-Device AI

Notepad is getting on-device AI capabilities, moving away from Microsoft Copilot’s cloud-based models that were subject to usage limits. According to the article, the feature allows Notepad to use local AI models on devices equipped with an NPU chip or NPU unit, without requiring a Microsoft account or cloud connectivity. In this setup, Notepad can process content on the device, ensuring that data is never transmitted to external servers.

The on-device AI features include text generation, rewriting existing passages, and summarising content, tasks that are described as demanding relatively modest computational power and expected to run swiftly. Today’s Notepad also supports Markdown formatting, spell-checking, tabulation, and more, bringing it closer to feature-rich editors and drawing some criticism from users who prefer simplicity.

The Notepad version with on-device AI model support is currently available only to participants in the Windows Insider Preview programme, with a wider rollout to stable releases planned for the future.