Microsoft Says AI Built Windows 11 Speed Test

Windows design leader Marcus Ash said agentic AI handled much of the work on a new connection speed tool now in Insider testing.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft Says AI Built Windows 11 Speed Test

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Marcus Ash, who heads Design and Research for Windows and Devices at Microsoft, said agentic AI did much of the work building a Windows 11 speed test tool. Insiders on the experimental channel can now run a connection speed test from Quick Settings.

Why it matters

The tool shows how AI-assisted development is being applied to everyday operating system features. It also reflects an effort to let users check connection speeds without leaving Windows.

The speed test reports ping, download, and upload figures inside the flyout without opening a browser window. Microsoft has not disclosed which AI systems produced the code or what share of it they wrote.

The players

Marcus Ash

Marcus Ash heads Design and Research for Windows and Devices at Microsoft and publicly described the agentic AI role in building the tool.

Microsoft

Microsoft is the technology company that develops the Windows operating system and released the speed test to Windows Insiders.

The details

The speed test can be launched from a Speed test tile, the Wi-Fi and Cellular flyouts, or by right-clicking the taskbar network icon. An earlier version appeared in testing in September 2025 as a shortcut that opened Bing in a browser, and reached the general public through the KB5077241 preview in early 2026.

September 2025: An earlier Bing-opening version appeared in testing.
Early 2026: The earlier version reached the general Windows 11 public via KB5077241.
October 23: Build 26340.9767 with the new speed test was released.
October 30: Marcus Ash posted on X about the AI-built tool.

Tech Race

The tool is being tested on the Windows 11 Insider channel, the same preview track Microsoft uses to trial features before general release. Its September 2025 predecessor shows the feature was revised before reaching the public through KB5077241.

Windows 11 users can check ping, download, and upload speeds from the Quick Settings flyouts without opening a browser. Insiders must enable the tile manually through the Windows Insider Program feature flags in Settings.

The takeaway

AI assistance is reaching ordinary Windows features, and users who want to try the speed test early can enable it through Insider feature flags. Microsoft has not said how much of this kind of work AI will handle going forward.