Taiwanese chip design giant MediaTek is developing an Arm-based personal computer chip intended to run Microsoft’s Windows operating system, similar to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite for Copilot+ laptops.

This development aligns with Microsoft’s recent unveiling of a new generation of laptops featuring chips designed with Arm Holdings technology, which are powerful enough to support advanced artificial intelligence applications—an area executives believe represents the future of consumer computing. The MediaTek chip is tailored to support this initiative.

Microsoft’s strategic move is positioned as a direct challenge to Apple, which has been utilizing its own Arm-based chips for Mac computers for approximately four years. The decision to optimize Windows for Arm architecture could also pose a significant challenge to Intel’s longstanding dominance in the PC market.

However, Microsoft, at the time of unveiling its Copilot+ laptops, had stated that only Qualcomm is licensed to create chips for Arm-based laptops

In response to the news, MediaTek’s Taiwan-listed shares saw a rise of 2.4 percent on Wednesday, outperforming the broader market index, which gained 1.2 percent.

The MediaTek chip for Windows Copilot+ will launch late next year. This will coincide with Qualcomm’s exclusive deal to supply chips for laptops expiring.