The Six Five team discusses Windows Recall Gets A Date
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Transcript:
Daniel Newman: Recall. You and I were both super excited about AI PC, Copilot+, and then you lost Recall. Are we getting Recall back?
Patrick Moorhead: Yeah, so a little backstory here. Recall was the premier feature for the generative AI-enabled version of Windows 11. It essentially allowed you to have an indefinite memory. Actually not indefinite, it scales with the amount of storage you have on the device. But essentially it would take snapshots of every application that is open on your desktop at various times. It would store that and then it would essentially allow you to query all of that data.
So here’s a for instance. We met with the CEO and the number two of a company yesterday. It would’ve been nice if I could go in there and do a search on their names and see all the different touch points that we had, let’s say, over the last six months that I had with the company. It would scan what I’ve done on the web. It would scan WhatsApp. It would scan Word. Basically every application it takes snapshots to be able to do and it would give me all of these different touch points that I had with those senior executives and the companies. By the way, even on Windows, they have an app called Phone Link where I pull in text messages. So text messages would be in there as well.
So a lot of benefit. A lot of people really screamed, and I’m empathetic on this security nightmare and privacy nightmare. On the security side, Microsoft, there’s been increased scrutiny on their security, and their president was testifying in front of Congress on security, and the day after, Microsoft pulled Recall in, meaning saying, “We are not going to be announcing this.” It was first opt out and in there, and then it became opt out. Then it got moved to, “We’re putting this in the Insider edition,” which think of that like a beta version that you have to sign up for. Oh, and you can only access it via Windows Hello. So a lot of changes at the same time. Most in the industry, I feel, were pretty sad, particularly those people who have stake in selling in and selling out AI PCs. So to make a long story even longer, the date-
Daniel Newman: You’re doing that today.
Patrick Moorhead: Yeah, I know. The date is not June. It’s not June opt out on every version of AI PC. It’s now going to be in October. Windows Insider, opt in Windows Hello. So big changes. I’ve got to tell you, I am going to use this. I’m going to turn this thing on and use it for everything because, Dan, I’m Gen X. I’m older and I need help with memory. I will turn it off on certain applications that I don’t feel comfortable doing that on. I view it like history in a browser, which is pretty much you’ve got history turned on. You can go in and see everything you’ve done for however long you’ve had it without clearing it. If you don’t want to be tracked then … Or you could just delete all your history or turn it off if you’re trying to cover your tracks for something. That’s the way I see this.
Now it is aggregating a lot of information. It is resident only on the PC. It is not transmitting this to the cloud. In fact, there’s over 40 different models that come with AI PCs that will enable this capability on the device itself. That’s where the 40 tops from Qualcomm and soon-to-be AMD and Intel with the Lunar Lake that will come out and have operating support for this. 15 years ago, if you would’ve asked me, “Hey, there’s going to be this service where I’m going to take pictures, I’m going to tell people exactly where I am in real time,” you’d be like, “Man, that’s creepy. That’s just like … ” Privacy is a boiling frog. We get used to it. As long as we see corresponding benefit from the privacy intrusions, we’re willing to do it. I mean Instagram, I mean they are mining everything on us. We don’t turn Instagram off. Anyways, yeah, I really made a one-line news release pretty long.
Daniel Newman: You really did. You really did. That’s okay, Pat. This was the mega moment for the AI PC. And so, I tend to think this was a very important update. The market was kind of like … This was the feature that was like why jump in head first? I mean, of course, these things are more powerful. They’ve got great battery life. There’s a lot of cool things going on with these next-gen devices. But this ability for old people like you to be able … I’m just kidding, everybody, there. I don’t need Recall because I remember everything. But for most people, they do. The truth is, Pat, I like that you have the opportunity to opt in and out depending on the application. There are some really interesting questions, I think, that we’re all going to need to reflect on about like … So we’ve really not thought much about … Like most of our … My company runs a lot of Google apps, Pat. I think you have a Google app shop for some of your stuff, too.
Patrick Moorhead: Backend, yeah.
Daniel Newman: My point, though, is like there is … In the MSA is like some privacy agreements, but we all know that there’s also these certain alarms with companies that index the internet, like a Google or Microsoft, that when you give them … Like you hope that the … And, by the way, I genuinely believe the intent is there, but at the same time we remember the Slack thing where they told everybody what a company’s favorite emojis were. Remember that thing?
Patrick Moorhead: Yeah.
Daniel Newman: Where is my data truly my data? Beyond you and I standing up our own private data center and building out a DCF instance or a fully Linux-based running as the mainframe, we’re depending on third parties to basically … So what I’m saying, though, is something that you would not think twice about your email, but are you going to, for instance, use Recall to index your email in certain ways? I don’t know. Or different applications, social apps. Because, again, it’s already all going out there, so what are you going to limit it to? What are the things that you’re really worried about?
I think it becomes pervasive. I really do. I think it becomes pervasive. I think the security of it all, Pat, comes down to saying, I want to run it in this app, but I want all the data to stay here. And so, that’s the big opportunity with these AI PCs is that it’s got this powerful MPU on device. It can do all this cool generative stuff without needing to always process in the cloud. So exciting times, Pat. Good moment. Congratulations on getting it out. It was a little-
Patrick Moorhead: Not out yet, buddy.
Daniel Newman: Sorry, the delay on getting a commitment to get it out.
Patrick Moorhead: Yeah.
Daniel Newman: Remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Patrick Moorhead: It does. It really does. It makes me want it more. I hope while they were in there on the security machinery, they did some optimizations as well.
Daniel Newman: Is that a Frenchie? I don’t know.
Patrick Moorhead: That is an absolute Frenchie standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. It’s got a nice little cute little beret on.
Daniel Newman: It’s got a little woof. I’m like-
Patrick Moorhead: Don’t give me any ideas about what I might need to dress up my Frenchies in.
Daniel Newman: Oh, your little Frenchies. Anyways, tell them not to hop off the bed. They’ll break their legs.
Author Information
Daniel is the CEO of The Futurum Group. Living his life at the intersection of people and technology, Daniel works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring Digital Transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise.
From the leading edge of AI to global technology policy, Daniel makes the connections between business, people and tech that are required for companies to benefit most from their technology investments. Daniel is a top 5 globally ranked industry analyst and his ideas are regularly cited or shared in television appearances by CNBC, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and hundreds of other sites around the world.
A 7x Best-Selling Author including his most recent book “Human/Machine.” Daniel is also a Forbes and MarketWatch (Dow Jones) contributor.
An MBA and Former Graduate Adjunct Faculty, Daniel is an Austin Texas transplant after 40 years in Chicago. His speaking takes him around the world each year as he shares his vision of the role technology will play in our future.
