tomshardware[.]com/software/windows/microsofts-baseline-ram-for-ai-pcs-set-at-16gb
OK, I'm guessing about the only thing this info is really useful for is if you're thinking about buying new hardware, and then there's still an awful lot of uncertainty. Microsoft is pushing AI, Hard, and some of the stuff they're pushing is going to require hardware assist. We don't know if it'll pan out or flop like Cortana -- lots will depend on what outside companies develop to use Windows new focus on AI. OpenAI [Chat GPT] has a store for chatbots 3rd parties have developed for / using Chat GPT, and Microsoft says they want to do something similar. It's also too early to tell exactly what hardware will work best *If* some of this AI stuff in Windows is worthwhile. NVIDIA GPUs have an advantage when it comes to AI, with Intel 2nd and AMD a distant 3rd, but that won't matter if the biggest benefit comes from NPUs packaged with the CPU. Meanwhile, AMD & Intel are adding NPUs to the versions of their CPUs for laptops etc. where power saving is important -- they take some of the load off of more power hungry CPU cores -- as they don't know how much, or if this stuff will matter for desktop PCs.
According to all the reports Win11 will get another bunch of new features in a *Moment* update in early 2024. Then around June new hardware for AI-based Windows should hit store shelves, running an early version of what may or may not be called Windows 12. Whatever it's called, this new version will be released this fall, and hardware running that earlier version will get updated. At one point a while ago there was talk of Microsoft having hardware requirements for its AI stuff in Windows, *maybe* like it does for Win11's Android emulation, and Microsoft has said that the hardware requirements for this new version would not be much if at all different from Win11. Against that backdrop, there's new evidence of Microsoft's hardware requirements for Windows AI PCs. 16GB RAM will be the new minimum, along with 40 TOPS of compute power -- the combined CPU, GPU, and NPU power [NPU = Neural Processing Unit, add-on chips for AI].
The guy that was in charge of Windows at Microsoft left & went to Amazon, so there's more uncertainty than usual among the journalists with sources inside Microsoft. The only thing that seems really certain is that there's a new version of Windows coming, and it will focus heavily on AI. Whether those new hardware requirements will be for Win12 or just for the privilege of adding some sort of AI sticker to new hardware isn't known outside Microsoft.