Microsoft wants AI devs off the cloud - and on Windows with AI Foundry

On May 19, 2025, at Microsoft Build, the company launched Windows AI Foundry, a new initiative pushing AI development to local Windows machines.

Microsoft aims to support developers running AI models directly on PCs powered by CPUs, GPUs, and NPUs from AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm. The push reflects a growing demand for local tools that can handle training and inference without depending on the cloud.

Also read: Microsoft Claims Copilot+ PCs Are Faster Than MacBook Air by 58%, But Are They Really?

Developers have asked for more power — faster processors, high-speed memory, and larger storage — and Microsoft is listening. With Windows-based AI workstations, teams can build and run large models while keeping data local, improving both speed and privacy.

Windows AI Foundry doesn’t lock developers into one chipmaker. Instead, it gives them flexibility to optimize performance across different hardware. This lets teams focus on building, not configuring.

Microsoft’s clear aim is to bring AI closer to the machine, cut cloud costs, and let developers control their own stack. With Windows AI Foundry, the company doubles down on making Windows a serious platform for building next-gen AI tools, not just running them.

Microsoft also held its developer conference – Build 2025, which featured several announcements such as AI chatbots for website. You can read more about them here –

• Microsoft Build 2025: Top 5 announcements highlights from the developer conference
• Microsoft Build 2025: Everything You Need to Know About Microsoft’s AI chatbots for Websites
• Microsoft Engineer Disrupts Build 2025 Keynote Over Israel Contracts