How do I disable the "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Host [etc]" feature?

I don't mind what they do IF they explained what it was for, what it is meant to do, why it's a benefit, whom it benefits, where data is processed/stored, who has access, what are the risks, etc. ... AND allow users the ability make a fully-informed decision to Opt OUT if so desired.

The reality is that AI.EXE should always have been disabled unless a user specifically Opts IN, but no.

I implemented the same blocks in the AV system and attempted to run ai.exe as Administrator but Windows would not allow it so I could not confirm if the AV might have blocked it. You'll be in a good position to confirm if your AV does prevent the launch of ai.exe on the Win 11 Home machine, please report back when you get a chance!

Another layer of protection would be to determine what IP addresses ai.exe is hitting so we can block outbound traffic at the firewall. Presumably this will be DC locale driven but I maybe over time we can build a list of various DC IP blocks for different regions.

it's not just 1 file but 4 and hiding in several places
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16

PackageFiles may get a new number after an update

and it's not just ai.exe
but also
ai.dll
aimgr.exe
aitrx.dll

I use CCleaner, under Options, in Include, in Add i add the files,
in Custom Clean, I check Custom Files and Folders in Advanced under Windows,
so every time I run Custom Clean in CCleaner it also removes that Ai

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.dll

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aimgr.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aitrx.dll

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.dll

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aimgr.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aitrx.dll

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.dll

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aimgr.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aitrx.dll

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.dll

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 ai.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aimgr.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Updates\Download\PackageFiles\78018EAE-A132-4FE6-BCA5-F6D906513F9B\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16 aitrx.dll

I don't know if "Chandy" is a person or AI you and others keep commenting to. Haven't seen anything of use from "Chandy". But is makes more sense to combine all the commands into a task... and run it periodically - so you don't have to keep checking your task manager to see if ai.exe is running. Just create a  task and run it every hour... once a day... whatever. Check task manager once in a while in case MS finds a way to reinstate ai.exe  -maybe even as a different executable.... simple.. hands free... no need to manually kill it every time you update... you can go into task manager and manually  run the task as well... as if you were running the batch file or cmd file from a prompt if you desire. You want all of these commands in your file - as some  machines run 32bit and some 64bit Office versions.

# Kill AI

taskkill /IM ai.exe /F 

# Remove AI

cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16"

Del ai.exe

Del ai.dll

Del aimgr.exe

Del aitrx.dll

cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16"

Del ai.exe

Del ai.dll

Del aimgr.exe

Del aitrx.dll

cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16"

Del ai.exe

Del ai.dll

Del aimgr.exe

Del aitrx.dll

cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16"

Del ai.exe

Del ai.dll

Del aimgr.exe

Del aitrx.dll

In task scheduler - make sure you set it to run with the highest privileges, and whether user is logged in or not.