Following fierce criticism, Microsoft is now postponing the launch of a new Windows search feature that was supposed to record what was on a user's screen every few seconds.
The so-called Recall feature was originally due to be available on June 18 on upcoming PCs, however Microsoft has now announced it will be tested at a later date on a smaller scale in the Windows Insider programme.
Microsoft says Recall makes it easier to find information on a PC, since AI-powered software can analyse what is seen on the screenshots Windows saves and create a directory of what a user has been doing on their computer.
This could help, for example, if you can no longer remember the name of a travel website you visited, but still remember that it had palm trees and a beach.
Some AI security researchers said the feature would be a privacy disaster and warned that cyberattacks could potentially access Microsoft's archive of screen activity and see everything a person has ever looked at.
Last week, Microsoft announced improved security for Recall. In addition, the feature would no longer be switched on by default when setting up the PC, but users would first have to activate it themselves. Criticism persisted, however, and Microsoft has responded by postponing its rollout.
Microsoft and manufacturers of Windows computers are preparing for a June 18 launch of a new PC category said to be better tailored to AI. The device class is called Copilot+ PC, in reference to Microsoft's AI assistant called Copilot.
