Microsoft has upgraded its consumer AI assistant, Copilot, giving it a friendlier voice and the ability to analyze web pages for users as they browse.
This update marks a significant step in the company’s efforts to enhance its AI offerings, allowing Copilot to better assist users in real-time.
According to Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, the company has assembled a team of creative directors—including psychologists, novelists, and comedians—to fine-tune Copilot’s tone and style. “We now have an entire army of creative directors,” Suleyman told Reuters, emphasizing the focus on making Copilot’s interactions more engaging and personable.
In a demonstration, Copilot provided advice on a housewarming gift, suggesting, “Italian olive oils are the hot stuff right now. Tuscan’s my go-to. Super peppery,” showcasing its conversational capabilities.
The latest feature rollout, which began on Tuesday, is one of the first under Suleyman’s leadership since the formation of his division in March, aimed at advancing consumer-focused products and technology research.
Despite its dominance in business software, Microsoft has faced challenges in the consumer space. Its Bing search engine remains far behind Google, but Suleyman hopes Copilot will make a bigger impact in the competitive AI chatbot market, which includes OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Copilot’s newly introduced voice capabilities give it a more natural presence, responding with verbal cues such as “cool” and “huh” during conversations. These improvements are powered by Microsoft’s AI models in collaboration with OpenAI technology.
Subscribers paying $20 per month for Copilot Pro will also gain access to new features like “Think Deeper,” which helps users make decisions, such as choosing between different cities to move to. Another feature, “Copilot Vision,” enables users to interact with the AI about the content they see in the Microsoft Edge browser, though privacy is assured as the viewed content won’t be saved or used to train AI models.
Suleyman described these updates as early glimpses of AI becoming an “ever-present confidant” for users. He also hinted at future developments where Copilot will be able to learn from users’ Word documents, desktops, and even gaming consoles, provided users grant permission.
When asked about Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ opinion on the company’s AI efforts, Suleyman said Gates was enthusiastic, especially about Copilot’s potential to read and process emails. “He’s always asking me about when Copilot can read and parse his emails. It’s one of his favorite ones,” Suleyman added. “We’re on the case.”
