Microsoft 365 Copilot Gets Major Upgrade with AI-Powered Features for Business Users

Microsoft 365 Copilot's Business Version Gets ChatGPT 4o Image Generation

Imad is a senior reporter covering Google and internet culture. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with The New York Times, The Washington Post, ESPN, Tom's Guide and Wired, among others. The paid business version of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which gives access to Microsoft's AI tool, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, is getting a redesign getting a redesign as well as ChatGPT 4o's image generation, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday. The enhanced image generator is the same one that went viral earlier last month and turned just about everyone and anything into Ghibli-inspired art. The app redesign will give business users AI-powered search within Windows, Copilot Notebooks to organize project files, a Create mode to help people design things, and an Agent Store to quickly find bespoke AI agents. It's unclear when GPT-4o image generation or other features will be available to both paid consumers and free users. Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. While most people think of AI as a way to help write emails or make funny cat videos for Instagram Reels, there's an entire market dedicated to bringing AI-powered tools to businesses. Given that Windows 11 powers much of the world's operating systems, it's no surprise that Microsoft has an outsized presence in this arena. To gain an upper hand, Microsoft invested heavily in OpenAI, creators of ChatGPT, in early 2023 to bring its tech to Microsoft devices. Productivity and business, as well as Cloud offerings, make a large chunk of Microsoft's revenue -- 79% of its $135 billion in revenue over the past two quarters. Not to be outdone, Google also has integrated Gemini into Google Workspace for business and enterprise. This includes having Gemini help with emails, Google Docs, meeting summarizations and more. The AI for enterprise market is expected to run on an upward trajectory, with the space projected to be worth $162.2 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research.

Microsoft 365 Copilot, Meant For Business Users, Gets ChatGPT 4o Image Generation

Imad is a senior reporter covering Google and internet culture. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with The New York Times, The Washington Post, ESPN, Tom's Guide and Wired, among others. The paid business version of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which gives access to the Microsoft's AI tool, plus Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, is getting a redesign plus ChatGPT 4o's image generation, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday. The enhanced image generator is the same one that went viral earlier last month, the one that turned just about everyone and anything into Ghibli-inspired art. The app redesign will give business users AI-powered search within Windows, Copilot Notebooks to organize project files, a Create mode to help people design stuff and an Agent Store to quickly find bespoke AI agents. It's unclear when GPT-4o image generation, or other features, will be coming to paid consumer and free users. Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. While most people think of AI as a way to help write emails or make funny cat videos for Instagram Reels, there's an entire market dedicated to bringing AI-powered tools to businesses. Given that Windows 11 powers much of the world's operating systems, it's no surprise that Microsoft has an outsized presence in this arena. To gain an upper hand, Microsoft invested heavily in OpenAI, creators of ChatGPT, in early 2023 as a way to bring its tech to Microsoft devices. Productivity and business as well as Cloud offerings makes a large chunk of Microsoft's revenue -- 79% of its $135 billion in revenue over the past two quarters. Not to be outdone, Google also has integrated Gemini into Google Workspace in business and enterprise. This includes having Gemini help with emails, Google Docs, meeting summarizations and more. The AI for enterprise market is expected to run on an upward trajectory, with the space being worth $162.2 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2 is here: Take a look at what's new

AI agents, GPT-4o image generation, and a new Copilot Notebook feature are all headed your way. Microsoft's 365 suite of productivity applications is the cornerstone of many businesses' everyday operations. To empower the suite with data-led intelligence, the tech company has infused 365 with its Copilot AI assistant -- and the latest release ups the ante on what Copilot can do for working professionals. Also: 3 clever ChatGPT tricks that prove it's still the AI to beat On Wednesday, the company launched its Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2 Spring release with add-ons, including the rollout of previously announced and some brand-new features, to enhance the Microsoft 365 experience. Many features focus on AI agents that can help working professionals get more done. For starters, Researcher and Analyst agents, which can conduct higher-level research and data analysis by leveraging existing OpenAI models, are rolling out in the new Agent Store starting today via the Frontier program. According to the press release, the new Agent Store will serve as a hub for AI agents, including your company's agents and those from partners, including Jira, Miro, and Monday.com. Also: Microsoft 365 Copilot's two new AI agents can speed up your workflow Microsoft also launched its Skill Discovery agent, which uses the People Skills data layer to assist leaders in creating skills-based teams and helps employees find each other based on the capabilities they are searching for. The new Create feature allows users to access OpenAI's model GPT-4o to generate AI images that follow company-approved brand guidelines. Some practical applications include modifying brand images and creating images for PowerPoints and social assets, as seen at the top of the article. The Copilot Notebooks feature allows you to add different aspects of your workflow, such as spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and meeting notes, to a notebook. You can then search this work using Copilot, a conversational chat interface. Microsoft describes Copilot Notebooks as a "collaboration partner". The feature is similar to Google's NotebookLM. Microsoft also introduced a new shortcut to help Windows 11 PCs access Copilot more easily. To access Microsoft Copilot Chat, users can click on the Copilot key and the Win + C shortcut. During Microsoft's 50th anniversary celebration at the beginning of the month, the company unveiled many new features, including Copilot Search and Memory, which are now rolling out to Microsoft 365 users. Also: OpenAI's o1 lies more than any major AI model. Why that matters Copilot Search, which can be used conversationally to pull answers from the web in real-time, is now being integrated into Microsoft 365 so that the organization's apps and data can inform users' answers. This integration includes third-party apps, including Google Drive, Slack, and ServiceNow. Copilot will also have a Memory feature, which allows it to remember basic information about you to provide more personalized and high-quality answers. Microsoft launched new features in the Copilot Control System to help IT administrators manage and govern AI agents. For example, the new features in Data Security Posture Management for AI with Purview provide IT administrators with a single dashboard to view and govern AI apps and agents, according to the release. Also: Chatbots are distorting news - even for paid users Similarly, Agent Management in the Microsoft 365 admin center lets IT administrators enable blocking agents for specific users. Lastly, the new Copilot Studio Agents Report gives IT insights into how employees use AI agents and the ROI and productivity gains of those actions.

Microsoft 365 Copilot redesigned with new search, image, and notebook features

Those tools include a new AI-powered enterprise search that can access third-party apps like ServiceNow, Google Drive, Slack, Confluence, and Jira to give businesses more relevant search results even if they don't use everything Microsoft has to offer. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app shares the same styling as the consumer version now, and the Pages feature, which first debuted in the consumer app, is also available to businesses. Pages is a powerful way to work collaboratively with AI agents, as you can share Pages with colleagues and they can work on them as if they're a co-edited Word document. "We took the same model as Loop has, it works in Outlook, in Teams, and everywhere in the ecosystem," says Friedman.

Microsoft 365 Copilot enterprise search, agents updated

The latest update to Microsoft 365 Copilot brings AI-powered search, so-called reasoning agents, and a new Agent Store. Some users already have access to certain features, while others may have to wait through May. One of the additions is AI-powered enterprise search, which once challenged enterprise search vendors because of the complexity of applying policies across diverse data repositories to make sure only appropriate documents were called forth. "With Copilot Search, we're bringing the power of search and AI together to give you more relevant, context aware search results," said Jon Friedman, corporate VP of design and research, in a video explainer. "It connects your work data and dozens of apps so you can quickly find what you need. And Copilot can summarize the files so you know what the content is without ever having to open the document." For anyone concerned about letting a large language model rummage through corporate files, Microsoft points to its Copilot Control System, intended to let IT admins and security folk manage Copilot interactions and access. That includes an Apps and Agents section in Data Security Posture Management for AI with Purview for just this sort of oversight. There's also a Copilot Analytics service and a Copilot Studio Agents Report available in Microsoft Viva Insights. As for the AI itself, Microsoft 365 Copilot has taken on two new passengers: Researcher and Analyst. They're "reasoning agents," meaning they're based on OpenAI's reasoning models, although Microsoft hasn't specified exactly which ones. Reasoning here refers to a process of breaking down tasks into steps and showing the execution of those steps. The Researcher agent is intended to assist with multi-step research tasks, similar to the OpenAI deep research agent the AI giant introduced in February. Microsoft's demonstration video of the process shows an agent being asked to come up with a marketing plan using the following prompt: Imagine you are an ambitious but not very clever intern and your employer's crack marketing team comes down with food poisoning after a recommendation engine's suggestion to try a trendy found shellfish pop-up. You'd be thrilled to have an agent like Researcher craft a passable marketing plan for which you could take credit. The Analyst agent promises similar info-wrangling feats in the context of data analysis. "Analyst is built on OpenAI's o3-mini reasoning model, and optimized to do advanced data analysis at work, including knowing when and how to use Python," an unidentified Microsoft employee explains in a video. "So even if you've never written a single line of code, you can still get the rich data insights only Python can provide." You may not be able to understand the code, but Microsoft's AI can explain it to you. Progress, apparently. These new agents are available in the shiny new Agent Store, which also features offerings from various partners including Jira, Monday.com, and Miro, among others. Custom-built agents are in the mix too, giving companies the option to automate specific tasks or provide Copilot with access to specific data. Over in the Create experience, Copilot has been bolstered with the addition of the image generation capabilities of OpenAI's GPT-4o. Would-be design professionals, or even talented visual artists disinterested in applying their skills, can now demand a broader set of banners, display graphics, and marketing copy from Microsoft's compliant AI. Model providers are investing billions annually to enhance GenAI models' size, performance, and reliability. This paradox will persist through 2025 and 2026 The Windows giant also introduced Notebooks, a place to dump assorted files that Copilot can then mull on demand. "Copilot Notebooks organize all of my files on a particular project into one place, and lets me have grounded conversations about that project with Copilot," explained Friedman. Some features in Wave 2 (like Researcher and Analyst agents) are available immediately to Frontier Program customers, with broader availability expected through May. The announcement comes as IT consultancy Gartner predicts an AI paradox in the coming year: Dissatisfaction with generative AI, accompanied by rising spending. "Expectations for GenAI's capabilities are declining due to high failure rates in initial proof-of-concept (POC) work and dissatisfaction with current GenAI results," said Gartner Research VP John-David Lovelock in a statement. "Despite this, foundational model providers are investing billions annually to enhance GenAI models' size, performance, and reliability. This paradox will persist through 2025 and 2026." Gartner projects that worldwide generative AI spending will surpass $644 billion in 2025, up more than 76 percent from 2024. ®

Microsoft's 365 Copilot Receives New Features in a Major Update | AIM Media House

Microsoft announced an update to the Copilot 365 application on Wednesday, which includes numerous new features. The platform now offers an 'AI-powered' search feature that incorporates data from various third-party sources, including Google Drive, Slack, Jira, and others. The company also announced a new Create feature that supports image generation, powered by OpenAI's latest GPT-4o capabilities. Additionally, the redesigned app now defaults to a chat-based interface, as demonstrated in a video published by the company on YouTube. Furthermore, the company announced a new Agent Store where users can integrate agents developed by Microsoft's partner companies. This announcement is in addition to the recently introduced Microsoft Researcher and Analyst agents. The Researcher feature is similar to the deep research tools offered by today's AI models and platforms. This feature combines OpenAI's deep research model with the capabilities of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Additionally, it can integrate third-party data from platforms like Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Confluence. The 'Analyst' feature is designed to function like a "skilled data scientist." This feature is built on OpenAI's o3-mini reasoning model and can run Python to execute data queries, allowing users to view the code the tool runs in real time. Source: Microsoft Microsoft also announced Copilot Notebooks, a feature that integrates chats, files, and recordings to deliver real-time insights and audio summaries, keeping users updated as data changes. "For example, I can collect all the latest things I'm reading about agents and agent frameworks, and then I can listen to it," said CEO Satya Nadella, demonstrating the Copilot Notebooks feature on X. Alongside these new features, Copilot is also equipped with memory and personalisation features. These ensure that the tool 'learns' the user preferences, to provide tailored responses. Recently, Microsoft also announced autonomous computer use capabilities in the Copilot Studio. This feature is accessible through an early access research preview. This can navigate through a user interface and perform actions such as clicking buttons, selecting menus, and typing text into fields.

Microsoft 365 Copilot updates: From audio overviews to DIY AI agents, here's what Satya Nadella revealed

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently took to social media platform X to share insights on the latest Microsoft 365 Copilot updates. "Copilot has truly become the UI for AI -- and for me, it's the scaffolding for my workday," he wrote. Nadella also detailed some of the newest features he's been using and how they are shaping the way he works. Researcher and Analyst agents Nadella highlighted how the Researcher agent allows users to collect and summarise information from both web sources and enterprise data, helping them quickly produce "super insightful" reports on virtually any topic. Meanwhile, the Analyst agent is designed to process raw data from various sources, transforming it into detailed insights, forecasts, or easy-to-understand visualisations. "With our new Agent Store, you can easily find a range of additional agents from our many partners too," he added. "And with Copilot Studio you can create your own agents. It's as straightforward as creating a Word doc or Excel sheet." Notebooks Nadella also introduced the Notebooks feature, which enables users to gather and organise project-related content -- such as Pages, documents, websites, and meeting notes -- in one place. Copilot can then tailor its support based on this structured information. "And this might be the best part: I can turn it all into a new modality like an audio overview. For example, I can collect all the latest things I'm reading about agents and agent frameworks, and then I can listen to it," he explained. Search The search capability within Copilot has also been significantly enhanced. It now goes beyond Microsoft's own ecosystem, allowing users to pull information from services such as Google Drive, Slack, Jira, and ServiceNow. Copilot delivers a summarised response along with links to the original content -- removing the hassle of searching across multiple platforms. Create On a lighter note, Nadella described one of the creative features in Copilot. "This one is fun'" he said. "Turn a PowerPoint into an explainer video, or generate an image from a prompt in Copilot with just a few clicks." He added that the company has added new features to make Copilot more personalised and built a redesigned app for human-agent collaboration.

Satya Nadella Calls It 'Scaffolding For My Workday' -- Introduces Microsoft 365 Copilot's AI Glow-Up To Reshape How We Work - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

On Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. MSFT introduced a newly redesigned version of its Microsoft 365 Copilot app. What Happened: The development was shared by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to X, formerly Twitter. The artificial intelligence-powered assistant, embedded within Microsoft's suite of productivity tools, is getting a host of new features aimed at streamlining workflows and enhancing creativity. "Copilot has truly become the UI [User Interface] for AI - and for me, it's the scaffolding for my workday," Nadella wrote. Among the most significant upgrades are new AI agents dubbed "Researcher" and "Analyst," which Nadella described as his "go-to 24/7 experts." Researcher aggregates and synthesizes information from the web and enterprise data to generate insightful reports, while Analyst turns raw data into visualizations and forecasts. See Also: Tesla's New Cheaper Cars Might Not Be The Game Changer Investors Hoped For, Warns Gary Black -- Here's Why He Thinks They Could Hurt More Than Help Copilot now also includes a Notebooks feature, allowing users to collect all project-related content -- documents, meetings, webpages -- into a single AI-grounded workspace. "It has entirely changed my workflow," Nadella said, adding that users can even generate audio overviews of their content. Microsoft has also added an enhanced search tool that integrates data from third-party platforms like Google Drive, Slack, and Jira, delivering not only AI-synthesized answers but also source materials for context. Another standout addition is the new Create feature, which can generate visuals from prompts and even convert PowerPoint slides into explainer videos using OpenAI's GPT-4o model. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It's Important: Earlier this month, Microsoft introduced a research preview of "Computer Use," a new feature within Copilot Studio that allows AI agents to directly interact with desktop and web applications to complete tasks. This follows the company's launch of Dragon Copilot last month -- an AI-powered assistant designed to streamline clinical workflows by combining voice dictation, ambient listening, and generative AI. Back in January, Salesforce Inc. CRM co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff criticized Microsoft's Copilot, saying it had "already flopped." He argued that the tool lacked user adoption and was essentially just a rebranded version of OpenAI's ChatGPT. Since 2019, Microsoft has invested more than $14 billion in OpenAI. However, the alliance hasn't been without its challenges. Previously, Former CEO Steve Ballmer told GeekWire, "What Satya did with OpenAI, I think was brilliant -- and I think it's fraught with peril, but I know they know that. It's sort of a juggling act." Price Action: Microsoft shares rose 2.06% on Wednesday, closing at $374.39. Despite the gain, the stock remains down 10.56% year-to-date, according to Benzinga Pro. Per Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings, Microsoft has a growth score of 64.65%. Click here to see how it stacks up against other companies in the sector. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Charlie Munger Once Said Warren Buffett Is A 'Learning Machine' And That's What Lies Beneath Berkshire Hathaway's Success From One Decade To Another Image Via Shutterstock Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. CRMSalesforce Inc$255.011.81%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum33.39Growth95.75Quality69.69Value7.89Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMSFTMicrosoft Corp$372.40-0.53%Got Questions? AskWhich companies will benefit from Microsoft's AI?How might cloud service providers react to Copilot?Which software firms face competition from Microsoft?Could AI-driven productivity tools disrupt traditional workflows?What impact will Copilot have on enterprise software stocks?Will OpenAI's partnership enhance Microsoft's value?How will tech investors respond to Copilot's upgrades?Are small businesses likely to adopt Copilot quickly?Which industries might see increased efficiency from AI tools?How could investors capitalize on Copilot's market presence?Powered ByMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs