Asus is introducing a new NUC that stands out primarily because of the copilot button on the chassis. It is unclear to what extent the presence of the button is an expensive joke.

Asus introduces the Asus NUC 14 Pro AIAsus has bolded the letters A and I on its slides, and we immediately understand why. Thanks to the integration of a copilot button on the chassis, this NUC takes full advantage of the hype surrounding artificial intelligence.

Lots of bla bla

Copilot is Microsoft’s catch-all term for AI capabilities built into Windows. Although Microsoft touts it, including with the Copilot+ label for computers, the reality is that today there is very little useful you can do with AI workloads running on the device itself.

Still, Microsoft insists that manufacturers include the Copilot button on their laptop keyboards. While that’s not bad, it’s not helpful either. The Copilot functionality is so limited that this button doesn’t add any value, but it’s also tied to a Microsoft-exclusive feature that actually exists alongside Windows itself. Compare it a little to your smart TV’s remote control, which is full of buttons for services you don’t care about.

Learn lessons

Asus has now decided to learn the worst lesson from all this and integrate the copilot button into its new NUC. A NUC is a mini PC that is usually meant to be hidden somewhere or mounted behind a screen. Buttons on a NUC are, by definition, almost out of reach. For this reason, some MSI NUC models come with an additional on/off button with a cable to make operation easier.

So this new little hype machine now has a hard-to-reach button that hides a Microsoft-exclusive feature that doesn’t add any value today. If you buy a new Microsoft keyboard, you get two copilot keys: good news for anyone who likes to collect things.

Processor tailored to (missing) battery

The Asus NUC 14 Pro AI integrates a brand new Intel Lunar Lake processor (Intel Core Ultra Series 2). Intel designed these chips to find a balance between performance and efficiency similar to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips. Sufficient performance with a long-lasting battery: that’s the idea. A NUC doesn’t have a battery, so we don’t understand this choice either.

It seems that Asus is looking to launch a box full of hype. In our opinion, the inclusion of other useful things like WiFi 7 and 2.5G Ethernet pales in comparison to the AI/Copilot marketing choice and battery-optimized laptop processor. The device is set to launch later this year and does not yet have an official price.