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

Asus is launching its latest NUC mini PC today, powered by Intel’s modern Core Ultra Series 2 processors. For some reason, Asus decided to put a dedicated Copilot button on the front of this puck-like PC so you can reach right in and fire up Microsoft’s AI assistant.

I’m not entirely sure why you’d want an AI button on a miniature PC that’s likely to be farther than your desk’s reach, but it’s a button that’s evolved beyond Microsoft’s efforts to put it on keyboards. Asus also has a fingerprint reader on the top of this NUC for Windows Hello authentication, which makes more sense since you can tap the fingerprint reader when you first turn on this mini PC.

Aside from the Copilot button, this NUC is packed with vital ports and connectivity. Up front, you’ll find two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a Thunderbolt 4 port, and a headphone jack. On the back of the NUC 14 Pro AI, you’ll find an Ethernet port, another Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI port, and two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports. Asus has 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 set of speakers or headphones.

What’s most compelling, though, is what’s inside. Intel is promising massive performance improvements with its latest Lunar Lake processors in the NUC 14 Pro AI, with GPU performance up to 2x faster than the previous generation. Asus is also using a premium fluid energetic bearing fan to improve heat dissipation and keep the Intel chip cold under ponderous 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 via an update that’ll be available in November. We don’t have a price for the Asus NUC 14 Pro AI, but it’s expected to arrive later this year.