After the May debacle, Microsoft is back to square one with the infamous Windows recall feature, announcing an indefinite delay of the feature Now, however, the recall appears to be coming to an end

Specifically, the AI-powered feature appears to be slowly preparing for a comeback: in an announcement on the Windows blog, Microsoft announced that Windows Insiders (basically the company's beta testers) will be able to access a preview of Recall this October The company announced that

The last update to the blog came the same month that Microsoft recalled the AI feature At that time, they announced that it would be coming to Windows Insiders “in the coming weeks” In a further blog post, Microsoft added, “We want to make sure this experience meets our high standards for quality and security”

Almost immediately, Recall added several security safeguards that were surprisingly lacking These include:

If you forget about Recall after Microsoft removes this feature, Windows Recall takes a snapshot of all operations performed on the Copilot + PC Initially, it was described as a “photographic memory” of computer operations Essentially, it allows you to revisit and search through emails, documents, and chats to find information

This sounds like a great feature, but as soon as it was announced, security researchers quickly warned that this feature was easy to exploit and a potential security “disaster” Security expert Kevin Beaumont discovered that the recall does not hide sensitive information like passwords

As we understand it, the problem is that Microsoft inexplicably left the recall data unencrypted We can only speculate, but in trying to push AI into everything this year, companies have pushed unfinished features and ideas into the product pipeline with no guardrails

Basically, it was an open door to accidentally installing malware or being hacked by other means

Similar to the Google AI Overview controversy, Microsoft and Google were caught trying to stick their hands in the AI cookie jar While both companies have withdrawn these particular AI tools, they are still promoting AI And as you can see, neither tool has disappeared entirely But hopefully, time spent back in the lab will produce better, more functional, and most importantly, more secure tools

Outside of this week's announcement, Microsoft said a blog with details on how to access the revamped Recall preview will be available in October It will likely require Copilot + PC, which began releasing in June