• A Reuters report suggests MediaTek has begun work on AI PC chipsets.
• The silicon could be ready by late 2025 and would form part of Microsoft’s Copilot+ program.
• Specialising in the smartphone space, it would give MediaTek a new avenue within PCs.

We have in recent weeks seen a number of Windows OEMs unveil new laptops built with Copilot+ in mind. These AI PCs have all been revealed with silicon from Qualcomm, with AMD and Intel also getting in on the act. Now MediaTek is also set to be a new player in the AI PC space, according to a report by Reuters.

The Taiwanese company, which specialises in chipsets for smartphones and other smart devices like the rain 101 5G router, will reportedly be developing Arm-based versions CPUs as part of Microsoft’s Copilot+ program.

As the publication points out, Qualcomm had an exclusive arrangement with Microsoft to do so on Windows-related hardware, but that exclusivity ends this year. As such, we could see MediaTek’s AI PC chipsets arrive in the latter half of next year.

With the likes of AMD and Nvidia also looking to capitalise the elapsing exclusivity, it looks like Microsoft is leaning on its OEMs to help it challenge Apple, which has been churning out its own Arm-based chips under its M-branded foundry.

Whether it will be able to compete with what’s been coming out of Cupertino remains to be seen, but as The Verge points out, MediaTek is truly looking to branch out of the smartphone space. Here the company is also rumoured to be working on chipsets for gaming devices like the Steam Deck in collaboration with NVIDIA.

We could soon see AI PC functionality head to handheld gaming consoles too, which have become the hot new device at the moment.

At time of writing, neither MediaTek nor Microsoft have commented on the report, but it is clear that there is an opening as soon as the Qualcomm’s exclusivity elapses.