Microsoft DirectML now supports PC Copilot+ and WebNN

DirectML was first introduced in Windows 10 version 1903, and can be simply understood as a library that helps optimize GPU resources for machine learning.

Microsoft recently started supporting integrated NPUs on modern SoCs in DirectML. Today, the Redmond company officially announced that DirectML will now support systems labeled PC Copilot+, which feature the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU as part of the Snapdragon X Elite Compute Platform.

DirectML on PC Copilot+ will be supported with the following system requirements:

1. Minimum DirectML version is 1.15.2 (ARM64)
2. Minimum ONNX Runtime version is 1.18 (ARM64)
3. Windows 11 version 24H2 or later
4. Qualcomm Hexagon NPU Driver minimum version is 30.0.31.250 or higher

Upendra Kulkarni, vice president of product management for computing software at Qualcomm, said:

With the Snapdragon X Elite, we introduced an industry-leading NPU with 45 TOPS of AI performance at incredible power efficiency. DirectML is a developer-friendly ML programming interface that uses the familiar DirectX API architecture. By supporting DirectML on Qualcomm NPUs, developers can now easily port their models from the GPU to the NPU with minimal effort. We have worked extensively with Microsoft to optimize DirectML for the NPU to maximize hardware performance.

Microsoft DirectML now supports PC Copilot+ and WebNN Picture 1

Along with PC Copilot+ support, Microsoft also said web developers can now take advantage of the NPU with the latest release of DirectML and WebNN Developer Preview.

WebNN is a new web standard that allows developers to run machine learning models in the browser for AI-powered web applications. This new DirectML update adds support for an initial set of models on Intel Core Ultra processors with Intel AI Boost and PC Copilot+ powered by the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU. Developers can try it out today on the WebNN Developer Preview website.

WebNN on DirectML will be supported with the following system requirements:

1. Windows 11 version 24H2 or later
2. Insider version of Edge
3. Latest Driver from WebNN NPU Partners
4. Driver Intel Core Ultra NPU for Windows
5. Qualcomm Hexagon NPU Driver Package for Windows

In the future, Microsoft plans to roll out more exciting updates to support advanced AI capabilities on Windows PCs.

Marvin Fry

Update 04 September 2024