Microsoft and Nvidia took the stage together at a Windows event in San Francisco on October 8 to unveil the next phase of the personal computer. In a rare joint appearance, the two companies’ CEOs announced a sweeping collaboration spanning operating system security architecture to hardware design, with the goal of making AI agents the core computing entities within the Windows ecosystem.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made clear during the conversation that the personal computer, once a tool for humans, will in the future serve both people and AI agents. He pointed out that agents have the potential to utilize software capabilities far more fully than humans, since users typically only know 10% to 15% of an application’s features, whereas an agent can master every function.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella framed the collaboration as a paradigm shift in computing. He noted that when agents begin directly manipulating files, applications, and cloud services, the operating system must be redesigned to allow agents to execute tasks safely and efficiently.