Microsoft just gave its AI development platform a chic redesign and a more defined sense of purpose. As developers swarm the ecosystem with AI-enabled apps, Microsoft wants to ensure that Windows isn’t just along for the ride; it wants to be driving. Microsoft is providing its AI development tools a major boost with the announcement of Windows AI Foundry, a newly rebranded and enhanced initiative that was revealed at the company’s Build 2025 conference on Monday.

The new platform is promoted by Microsoft as a “unified platform for local AI development” that unites tooling, model management, and optimization pipelines for developing AI-fueled applications that run flawlessly on Windows devices. This initiative builds on the Windows Copilot Runtime, introduced in May 2024, by providing developers with an even more efficient and hardware-aware method to deploy AI models on Windows and even macOS devices.

The update represents Microsoft’s larger plan to embed AI as a central element of the Windows platform, allowing developers to create, test, and run machine learning models locally without any complications and with ease.

AI as a Strategic Pillar

Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft said,

“We are innovating across our tech stack and helping customers unlock the full ROI of AI to capture the massive opportunity ahead. Already, our AI business has surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $13 billion, up 175% year-over-year.”

With reported AI revenue of $13 billion a year, Microsoft is doubling down on the dream of dominating both edge and cloud AI. Even if Microsoft does not collect profits directly from each AI-driven app created for Windows, it realizes long-term gain in fostering a healthy developer ecosystem through such tools as Windows AI Foundry.

This strategy is a traditional platform approach; it gives more power to third-party developers with improved tools and allows innovation to thrive in the Windows ecosystem. Through enhancing on-device AI abilities, Microsoft is also solidifying its competitive advantage over competitors within the OS and hardware markets.

Foundry Local

Microsoft in the press release said, Windows AI Foundry also includes Foundry Local, a new service that “brings the power of AI models…to client devices.” A core part of the new platform is Foundry Local, a cross-platform service that aims to deliver AI model performance to client devices directly. Foundry Local comprises a collection of runtime modules and developer tools, such as command-line support, for enabling smooth interaction with locally running models.

Users can utilize commands such as “Foundry model list” and “Foundry model run” to query, start, and run tests on local servers. The platform auto discovers hardware capabilities such as CPU, GPU, and NPU (Neural Processing Unit) and recommends compatible models optimized for the respective device. Microsoft writes,

“Foundry Local will automatically detect device hardware — CPU, GPU, and NPU — and list compatible models for developers to try. Developers will be able to leverage the Foundry Local SDK to easily integrate Foundry Local in their app.”

Foundry Local also takes advantage of the ONNX Runtime, Microsoft’s open source cross-platform AI acceleration engine. Both operating systems, Windows and macOS, are supported, presenting more flexibility for hybrid development environments.

Hardware Intelligence & Smart Management

One of the interesting aspects of Windows AI Foundry is that it can automatically detect a device’s hardware profile and retrieve components required to run a particular AI model automatically. These include runtime modules, model optimization tools, and SDKs. Microsoft indicates the system will update components as new hardware comes out, minimizing friction for developers while ensuring performance and compatibility. The effort is a demonstration of Microsoft’s attempt to reduce the complexity of AI implementation and improve user access to local inference functionality.

With Windows AI Foundry, Microsoft is counting on the future of AI development not being restricted, rather it runs straight on the users’ desk, within their laptop, fueled by such technology. This is not merely a developer update, it’s a strategic drive to make Windows the launchpad of choice for AI innovation. With hardware intelligence, cross-platform capabilities, and hands-off component management, the new toolkit could do more than streamline workflows, it could redefine where and how next-gen apps are created.