Asus’ new mini PC has a Copilot AI button on the front for some reason

Asus is launching its latest NUC mini PC today, complete with Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 2 processors. For some reason, Asus has decided to put a dedicated Copilot button on the front of this puck-shaped PC, so you can reach out and launch Microsoft’s AI assistant.

I’m not entirely sure why you’d want an AI button on a miniature PC that’s probably going to sit more than an arm’s length away from you on a desk, but it’s a button that has now progressed beyond Microsoft’s effort to push it on keyboards. Asus also has a fingerprint reader on top of this NUC for Windows Hello authentication, which makes more sense so you can touch the fingerprint reader when you initially power on this mini PC.

Aside from the Copilot button, this NUC is packed full of essential ports and connectivity. At the front, there are two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a Thunderbolt 4 port, and a headphone jack. At the rear of the NUC 14 Pro AI, there’s an ethernet port, another Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI port, and two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports. Asus has also equipped this mini PC with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support. There’s even an internal speaker with a microphone, making this mini PC useful if you don’t have a great speaker setup or headphones.

The most interesting part is what’s inside, though. Intel is promising big performance improvements with its latest Lunar Lake processors inside the NUC 14 Pro AI, with up to 2x GPU performance over the previous generation. Asus is also using a high-end fluid dynamic bearing fan to improve heat dissipation and keep Intel’s chip running cool under high loads.

The Asus NUC 14 Pro AI is also a Copilot Plus PC, so you’ll get access to Microsoft’s latest Windows AI features through an update that will be available in November. We don’t have a price for the Asus NUC 14 Pro AI, but it’s supposed to arrive later this year.