Microsoft Unveils Major Copilot Upgrades, Challenging OpenAI's Atlas

Two days after OpenAI's Atlas, Microsoft launches a nearly identical AI browser | TechCrunch

Microsoft released a new batch of features for its AI assistant Thursday, including an ambitious project that builds artificial intelligence directly into one of its most central products. More than a simple extension, the new CoPilot Mode of Microsoft's Edge browser is the company's take on the long-hyped AI browser category -- an intelligent and flexible AI assistant that follows you as you browse the web. Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, even described the new product in those terms in the announcement. "Copilot Mode in Edge is evolving into an AI browser that is your dynamic, intelligent companion," Suleyman wrote in the announcement post. "With your permission, Copilot can see and reason over your open tabs, summarize and compare information, and even take actions like booking a hotel or filling out forms." The announcement comes just two days after a similar launch from OpenAI, which showed off its new Atlas browser. Of course, Copilot's release has been scheduled for weeks, and new Copilot Mode has probably been in development for months. Neither company invented the idea of an AI-assisted web browser. But the visual similarity between the two products is hard to ignore. These are two very similar pictures. The Copilot for Edge background is a little darker, there's text instead of a logo, and the close/minimize buttons follow Windows conventions instead of MacOS conventions. Beyond that, Copilot puts its "ride-along" function in a new tab instead of a split-screen... but that's about it. It's pretty much the same product. Part of the similarity is functional: people like clean browsers, and there are only so many ways to integrate a chatbot window into the "new tab" screen. For users, the main difference will come from the underlying models, so maybe a little facial similarity doesn't make too big a difference. Browsers mostly look the same anyway. But given the high stakes of the AI race and the tense state of play between the two companies, it seems significant that we got both of these browsers in the same week.

Not to Be Outdone by ChatGPT Atlas, Microsoft Enhances Copilot Mode in Its Edge Browser

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. Copilot Mode in Edge brings more powerful agentic AI capabilities to Microsoft's web browser and is available now as part of a limited preview in the US, the company said in a blog post on Thursday. Recent versions of Edge already had many of the same features found in competing AI web browsers, such as Perplexity's Comet, OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas and Google's Gemini in Chrome. This includes having an AI in the corner to chat about the web page you're looking at, analyze content across multiple tabs, or search the web. Users who update to the latest version of Edg can enter into a limited preview and activate a Copilot toggle. Microsoft says Copilot can be toggled off at any time. Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. Copilot Mode in Edge includes Actions and Journeys, two features that were announced earlier in the year. Actions, as the name suggests, gives Edge agentic capabilities -- it can do things on your behalf. For example, using Actions with Voice, users can talk to their browser and have it open up a web page or ask Copilot to find a part in the article discussing a specific topic. Journeys remembers a user's browsing history and can help them pick up where they left off, along with suggestions of where to go next. In Journeys, users can see their past browsing sessions and group them accordingly. For example, if researching for a new TV to buy the day prior, Journeys can organize that previous research session and help users pick it back up. Microsoft didn't immediately reply to a request for comment. The release of Copilot Mode in Edge comes as the browser wars are heating up, thanks to the advent of generative AI. Earlier this week, OpenAI announced its ChatGPT Atlas web browser that integrates agentic systems to allow an AI to analyze data or do tasks on behalf of the user. Perplexity released Comet earlier this year, as did Google with Gemini in Chrome. At the moment, the browser market is dominated by Google, with Chrome maintaining a 71% market share, according to GlobalStats. After Apple's Safari, Microsoft's Edge is a distant third at 4.67%. It's a tremendous fall for Microsoft, as its Internet Explorer web browser once dominated the landscape at 95% global market share. Granted, Internet Explorer was the default on Windows, and Microsoft was ultimately sued by the US Department of Justice for engaging in anticompetitive behavior. This, somewhat ironically, paved the way for Chrome to enter the field. Microsoft said user data will remain secure and it will only collect data that's meant to "improve your experience." Browsing history can't be accessed without users opting in via the Page option in settings.

Copilot is getting more personality with a 'real talk' mode and group chats

Microsoft is rolling out some significant changes to its Copilot AI assistant today. There's a new groups feature that connects multiple people into a Copilot chat, memory to let Copilot learn things about you, a new "real talk" mode that will bring back some of Copilot's early personality, and more. Copilot Groups is designed for groups of friends, classmates, and even teammates to use Copilot in a single session. Microsoft is targeting this at people who need to make a plan or solve problems together, and the company is supporting up to 32 people in Copilot Groups, in an effort to make AI more social. "My guess is you're going to see groups of two or three dominate this," says Jacob Andreou, CVP of product and growth at Microsoft AI, in an interview with The Verge. "I think it's actually going to be a lot of small groups, it's not going to be like your long-running group chat suddenly has an AI in it." While Copilot Groups sounds like it's more ideally suited to work environments, it's only launching inside the US consumer version of Copilot today and not the business-focused Microsoft 365 Copilot. That might change in the future, though. "I do think it's going to be amazing in work contexts," says Andreou. "Bringing experiences like this into Microsoft 365 are going to be really important." Microsoft is also adding an optional "real talk" mode to Copilot that will adapt to the way you're asking questions and have more challenging responses. When Microsoft first launched Copilot as its Bing AI chatbot, it could often be prompted to refer to itself as Sydney and sometimes respond rudely to users. While the real talk mode doesn't bring back the full sassiness of Sydney, it sounds like Copilot is about to get a lot more personality in its responses. "In real talk this mode will match your tone, add its own perspective, and maybe be a little more witty than people expect," says Andreou. "It's also going to challenge you, so it won't just agree with everything you say." Real talk won't be the default mode, it will just be another mode you select in the dropdown menu, and it's also only limited to text and not Copilot's voice mode. Real talk will be able to take advantage of improvements to Copilot's memory features, though. "Copilot is getting way better memory. It will be able to remember facts about you, the people you care about, your life, and the things you're working on," explains Andreou. You'll also be able to control what Copilot knows about you. "You'll be able to see a list of everything Copilot knows about you, and you'll be able to go in and delete things," says Andreou. "We also really want to invest is doing a lot of this conversationally." You'll be able to use the Copilot voice mode to ask the AI assistant to forget everything it knows about your partner, for example. Copilot is also getting changes to how it answers health-related questions by improving how it sources and grounds responses with trusted sources like Harvard Health. "Copilot also helps you find the right doctors quickly and confidently, matching based on location, language, and other preferences," says Microsoft. Microsoft is also updating its Copilot voice mode to introduce Mico, a new Clippy-like character. It will react with real-time expressions and bounce around a Copilot window. It also has a Learn Live mode that acts like a tutor. You can read all about Mico right here.

Microsoft gives Copilot a 'real talk' upgrade - and an (optional) cartoon face

Copilot for Health promises 'credible' results from trusted sources. If you had any doubt about Microsoft's intention to insert its AI-powered Copilot features into every corner of its product line, today's massive Copilot Fall Release should change your mind. In a buzzword-heavy blog post that reads suspiciously like it was written with a heavy assist from Copilot, Microsoft announced 12 new features designed to expand its footprint in the AI market and address some criticisms of its signature chatbot. Starting today, Copilot conversations -- whether through voice or keyboard -- will reportedly become less cloying and sycophantic than the current iteration, thanks to a new "real talk" feature that Microsoft claims will challenge your assumptions and "adapt to your vibe." In this release we're adding features to make Copilot more personal and more adaptable to your needs and style, while holding true to our brand values. Copilot is designed to be empathetic and supportive, not sycophantic. It will push back on you sometimes, but always respectfully. This is AI that listens. That learns. That earns your trust. And for those who have been dreaming of the day that Clippy returns, the wait is over. Copilot chats can be accompanied by an "optional visual presence" -- an animated blob called Mico (short for Microsoft Copilot, and pictured above) that "listens, reacts, and even changes colors to reflect your interactions ... Mico shows support through animation and expressions, creating a friendly and engaging experience." Also: The best free AI courses and certificates in 2025 - and I've tried them all You can also add friends and co-workers to a chat, beginning today. With the Groups feature, Microsoft says, a user can start a session and then send a link to invite other people -- up to 32 in all -- to collaborate in real-time. The multi-user feature includes the ability to summarize threads, propose options, keep track of votes, and assign tasks. Learn Live turns the chatbot experience into an education tool -- a "voice-enabled, Socratic tutor that guides you through concepts instead of just giving answers. It uses questions, visual cues, and interactive whiteboards," Microsoft says. Those four features are available in the US only and are live today. The most controversial addition to this fall's feature drop is billed as "Copilot for health." Encouraging customers to ask for medical advice is a bold, even risky move for a product that has been known to make up answers and routinely includes a "Copilot may make mistakes" disclaimer with every interaction. To deal with that concern, Microsoft says it's worked on tying health-related questions to "credible sources like Harvard Health." The feature can also reportedly help you "find the right doctors quickly and confidently, matching based on specialty, location, language, and other preferences." Copilot for health is available only in the US, on the web and in the iOS Copilot app. The Connectors feature, which is rolling out gradually, will allow you to connect a Copilot session to external services, so you can use natural language to search for documents, email threads, and calendar events. In addition to Microsoft's own OneDrive and Outlook, Microsoft says support will be available for Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar. Other enhancements to the core Copilot chat features include Memory & Personalization, which allows Copilot to reference past conversations and store important information so you can recall it in future interactions. Microsoft says you'll be able to edit, update, or delete these memories at any time. Also: Windows 11 AI agents will act on your behalf - how much can you trust them? A related feature, Proactive Actions, will allow Copilot to "suggest next steps based on your recent activity or research threads." It's currently available as a preview and requires a Microsoft 365 subscription. Copilot Pages can now handle multiple file uploads -- up to 20 files in a variety of document, image, and text formats, and an Imagine panel promises to "explore and remix AI-generated ideas in a collaborative space," whatever that means. Copilot Mode in Edge allows access to the Copilot Actions feature that Microsoft introduced earlier this year, with a few enhancements. By turning on the Journeys feature, you can reportedly return to previous interactions and tasks without having to start over. And the browser-based Copilot can work with all open tabs in the browser window instead of being restricted to just the current tab. Copilot Search reportedly "combines AI-generated answers with traditional results in one view, providing clear, cited responses for faster and more trustworthy discovery." Whether it will improve on the current mess of search results with an AI summary at the top remains to be seen.

The New Clippy? Mico Is One of 12 Copilot Upgrades Rolling Out Now

Emily is an experienced reporter who covers cutting-edge tech, from AI and EVs to brain implants. She stays grounded by hiking and playing guitar. Don't miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google. Microsoft dropped its Copilot fall release today with a dozen new features, the splashiest being a new anthropomorphic buddy called Mico. The rest focus mostly on personal productivity, or making humans more capable versus AI; the wider tech industry has tended to prioritize the latter in the past few years. "Here's the simple idea I keep coming back to: technology should work in service of people. Not the other way around. Ever," says Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. The updates are now live in the US, and rolling out across the UK, Canada, and "beyond" in the next few weeks, Microsoft says. If you're outside the US, take a closer look at what's available in your region. Microsoft notes that "specific feature availability may vary by market, device, and platform." You can access Copilot through the app (iOS or Android) or by visiting copilot.microsoft.com in Microsoft Edge or another browser. Meet Mico: The New Clippy for the AI Age Clippy may have retired in 2007, but Microsoft is back with a new anthropomorphic computer buddy, Mico. The name is a combination of "Microsoft" and "Copilot," and the avatar is currently only available in the US. Mico is a voice assistant that promises to be "expressive, customizable, and warm," Microsoft says. It changes colors to reflect the interactions, which sounds somewhat like a mood ring for your computer. A variety of conversation styles can help you find the one you enjoy most, or you can disable Mico if you need a break. For more emotional support, Mico can engage in Real Talk, a "collaborative model that challenges assumptions with care, adapts to your vibe, and helps conversations spark growth and connection," Microsoft says. A Better Way to Do Group Projects In the US, you can now invite up to 32 people to a session with Copilot, perhaps friends, classmates, or coworkers. The Groups feature offers real-time collaboration, while the AI "keeps everyone aligned by summarizing threads, proposing options, tallying votes, and splitting tasks." Once a person starts a session, they send a link to others, who join the conversation. Sounds helpful, or at least like it could make big group projects go a bit smoother. Microsoft is also offering a creative version of this, called Imagine, which allows you to iterate on others' AI-generated images. "Every post can be liked and remixed, creating a dynamic ecosystem where creativity multiplies," Microsoft says. "We're pioneering ways to measure AI's social intelligence-how it elevates group chats, encourages creativity, and grows conversations." Health Advice From a Chatbot? Chatbots giving health advice is a controversial proposition, but Microsoft is diving right in with new Copilot for Health features. The chatbot can now answer health-related questions, grounded in "credible sources like Harvard Health," Microsoft says. It can also help locate doctors with the right specialty, location, and language. A new Learn Live feature, meanwhile, turns the AI into a tutor -- specifically, a "Socratic tutor" that asks questions and guides students, rather than providing answers. It can also pull up "interactive whiteboards" to help students study, practice a new language, and more. Better Memory and Context Copilot finally gets a memory, something ChatGPT offers, so every interaction doesn't start from scratch. It can keep track of important information, like your anniversary or if you're training for a marathon, and recall it during future interactions. You won't need to repeat, "I'm training for a marathon," before asking a question about meal planning or training, for example. Copilot will also have more context about your life and work with Connectors that let you link services, such as OneDrive, Outlook, Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar. The AI could then answer questions about your inbox, for example, or unearth documents, emails, and events. Sound creepy? Google Gemini can perform similar functions, for what it's worth. However, Microsoft says it has built-in privacy controls and requires "explicit consent" before accessing your data. The final all-knowing new Copilot feature is Proactive Actions, rolling out in Deep Research. It looks at your recent activity and research threads, surfacing insights and suggesting next steps. Too Many Tabs Open? Close 'Em Microsoft is building upon its July launch of Copilot Mode in Edge with a new feature called Journeys. It aims to make you more comfortable closing tabs, because it remembers your past browsing "journey" and can bring you back once you're ready to pick back up again. It'll also reference your browsing history in conversation. For example, it knows if you were shopping for a couch, so you can reference that casually without repeating, "I am shopping for a couch. Will this chair match?"

Microsoft makes Edge's Copilot Mode a bit smarter

Apparently, web browsers are cool again. Two days after OpenAI launched its AI browser, Microsoft has some updates for its Edge's AI mode. (Fancy that!) Copilot Mode, introduced in July, now has several features that were teased at launch. First up: Copilot Actions, which is Microsoft's branding for AI-assisted, multi-step tasks. This feature is already available in the standard version of Copilot, but it's now being previewed for Edge's Copilot Mode. Microsoft's examples of Copilot Actions in Edge include unsubscribing from email newsletters or making a restaurant reservation. Another new (but previously announced) feature is Journeys. These are saved projects you can return to anytime. "Remember that project you started a while back, but life got in the way?" Microsoft's blog post asks. "No need to bookmark all those tabs." For example, if you're researching starting a business, Copilot can recap articles you've read, suggest next steps and resurface a tutorial video you watched. Here's a video from when Microsoft teased Journeys in July. Along similar lines, another new Copilot Mode feature is the option to let the assistant access your browsing history. One example Microsoft gives is chatting with Copilot about a clothing item you checked out last week. Or, ask it for movie recommendations based on content you previously liked. Copilot requires explicit permission to access your private data for these new features. Microsoft's blog post stresses that your browser data is protected under the company's privacy statement and that Copilot "only collects what's needed to improve your experience." The company also notes that you'll see clear visual cues so you know when Copilot is active. Still, these features require loads of private information to be useful. Don't grant those permissions without first giving it some serious thought. The new Copilot features are currently free in a US-only "limited preview."

Microsoft Copilot gets long-term memory, group chats, and new 'Mico' persona in latest update

Microsoft is rolling out a series of updates to its consumer Copilot AI assistant, including shared group chats, long-term memory, and an optional visual persona named Mico. New capabilities include a "real talk" conversation style, a Learn Live feature that acts as a voice-enabled Socratic tutor, new connectors that link to services like Google Drive, Gmail, and Outlook, and deeper integration with Microsoft's Edge browser. Microsoft is competing against AI tools including Google's Gemini, Amazon's Alexa, Apple's revamped Siri, OpenAI's ChatGPT, and Anthropic's Claude in the consumer market. It looks to be the single biggest Copilot update to date from the group led by Mustafa Suleyman, the Google DeepMind co-founder who joined Microsoft last year as its AI CEO. "This release is a milestone for what AI can deliver," Suleyman writes in a blog post, explaining that the idea is to make Copilot a comprehensive assistant that connects users to their personal information, contacts, and tools with the goal of improving their lives. The features are rolling out starting today in the U.S, and the company says they will be available soon in the UK, Canada, and other parts of the world. Microsoft is showing the new features in the live stream below.

Copilot is getting a major upgrade and Microsoft is hoping Mico makes you forget you ever met a Clippy

In perhaps one of the most significant updates since Microsoft launched Copilot as Bing AI in 2023, the Windows company is rolling out a dozen Copilot (and Edge) updates, a handful of which are sure to transform your experience with the AI platform. The updates, which include a new face for Copilot and Journeys to help you digest your online activities and proactively recommend next steps, range from Edge Browser and Windows experiences to the mobile app. They're all free and dropping on Windows 11 (and Windows 10) installations today. While there are a dozen or so changes, Jacob Andreou, Corporate Vice President, Product & Growth, Microsoft AI, boiled them down for me to four major areas that "he's most excited about." The first and arguably biggest change, and it might be argued one that signals a fundamental shift in how we work with generative AI systems, is Groups. As the name suggests, Groups lets you invite other people into your Copilot session, and then you can start building prompts together, each asking your own questions, and "collaborate real-time with friends, with classmates, with family," explained Andreou. Think of it like a group Zoom or FaceTime call, but supercharged by generative AI. The group could brainstorm with Copilot, create drafts, and maybe even set up a study group. It might also prove useful in situations where, say, you're planning a family trip and want input from all family members. Then you all use Copilot to help add ideas and research about destinations, hotels, and itineraries. At TechRadar, we've found that AI can be quite helpful in planning group vacations. Andreou, who has had access to the new features for some time, recounted using it with his wife to figure out how to transition kittens to more adult cat food. "I was working with Copilot and figuring out the plan, and I just added her directly to the chat, and she was able to ask the follow-up, so we were able to kind of do it together." As for how this affects chat history and who can see what, Andreou told me that those invited into the chat will see the prompts and responses related to that chat, but nothing else about your copilot interactions. "The system stops using memory, as an example, as soon as you bring someone else in, because we want to make sure that, you know, your personal details stay private," he added. Microsoft is also adding more personality to Copilot in the form of "Mico" (a mashup of "Microsoft" and "Copilot"). It's similar to the Copilot app's original blob, but now it has a face. Andreou called it a "warm, expressive, customizable visual appearance." Its expressions will, in a sense, match your mood. If you enter a sad prompt, Mico may look sad. "It's incredibly performant," Andreou told me, "but all of the technology fades in the background." It's been a while since Microsoft had an incredibly helpful digital character. I wondered if Mico's face might be a bit Clippy-esque. Andreou laughed and told me, " We have a little Easter egg that's hidden in the product for the people that end up playing with Miko the most, where we're gonna be following in our footsteps of what's come before." The next update, Real Talk, seems to be a counter to concerns about the overly synchphantic nature of some AI chatbot models. Microsoft calls it its first "personality-forward" model. Andreou told me it's more witty, adds its own perspective, and can be more challenging. "It's not just someone who's there to kind of just be a cheerleader... this is a model that actually might really push back and might actually both help you think things through, but also actually spark some deeper conversations." Unlike OpenAI, which forced the more staid GPT-5 model on everyone, Microsoft is offering Real Talk as an option. Andreou admitted this kind of "conversation" is not for everyone, but some may appreciate it. "I think it's gonna lead to amazing conversations and a ton of learnings, of attributes, of personality that we will bring back into the overall product over time," he added. Copilot's memory is also getting an upgrade to better align with the competition, remembering details you share about yourself and your activities. If, for instance, you talk about a family member's birthday in a prompt, Copilot will remember that. "It'll make the interactions and responses feel a lot more natural and a lot more connected, Andreou told me. One of the things Microsoft learned about Copilot is that 40% of users ask the AI health-related questions within the first weeks of using the platform. Other studies have found that 1-in-6 adults under 30 turn to ChatGPT for health advice. It's with those statistics in mind that Microsoft is promising to make all Copilot's health-related responses grounded in "clinical sources." Andreou cited Harvard Health as one of them. Copilot users will see details about clinically trusted sources for each health-related response. The AI platform, however, will go a step further, connecting you with relevant doctors who are nearby and, if possible, in your coverage network. "We will never try to be the be-all end-all of these kinds of conversations," said Andreou, "As soon as we think it is appropriate, we will redirect you to find clinicians that can help you to speak to someone in the real world that can help you." Of course, Copilot can't recommend an in-network healthcare provider unless you share your insurance provider at some point during the chat. It's unclear how many people will be comfortable doing that. Copilot has been a part of the Edge browser for some time, but just in time for OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas browser, Microsoft is fully releasing the Copilot Mode in Edge, which the company first teased last July. There's quite a bit of agentic activity in the browser, like having it review your email and scroll through your social feeds, but Andreou points to the local actions as some of the most powerful new features, including Journeys. "Journeys looks at your browsing history and basically helps you pick up where you left off." he explained. Edge and Copilot mode make sense of what you've been up to, and when you return, it's ready with a next step. Andreou told me he uses Journeys to research new candidates during the job interview process. "Copilot will often go in the background and try to pull some more information for me and help me jump back in," he added. Microsoft appears to be going all in on the watchful digital assistant (with your permission, of course, and despite the unfortunate Recall history). Andreou described a redesigned homepage that features recent apps, files, and conversations. It almost sounds like a new Windows homescreen and, in a way, it is. "You can kind of imagine the new Copilot homepage becoming the starting point for computing on your Windows computer." While much of Copilot has historically been built on OpenAI models like GPT-5, Andreou confirmed they still use a collection of OpenAI models. However, he wasn't prepared to list all the models at work in this major Copilot update. "At every point in our stack, whether it's the mainline text responding model, the reasoning models we use under the hood, the image generation models that we use, we're constantly evaluating all of the available options that we have to serve our community. And so, that means that in many parts of the product, we still, through our partnership with OpenAI, are serving their state-of-the-art frontier models." Andreou, though, also echoed other AI-focused tech companies I've spoken to, telling me, "That also means that we want to maintain the flexibility to, in parts of our product, use the best model for the job." Microsoft later clarified Andreou's comments with this statement: "OpenAI continues to be our partner on frontier models, and our consumer AI model strategy remains unchanged. We will continue to use the very best models from our team, our partners, and the latest innovations from the open-source community to power our products. This gives us the most flexibility to build AI that delivers the best outcomes across millions of unique interactions every day." As for where you'll find these features, which are all available today (October 23), browser actions won't show up in the mobile app, but the app will get Mico. Microsoft's Copilot experiences differ in another way from those of Google and OpenAI: Most of them are free and, in some cases, you don't even need a Microsoft account. Andreou reminded me that they support Google and Apple accounts. "There is no feature of the twelve that is blocked behind a subscription," said Andreou.

Microsoft Might Bring These New Copilot Features to You Soon

Microsoft will announce the new Copilot features on October 23 Microsoft is gearing up to announce new Copilot features on Thursday. The Redmond-based tech giant announced that it is reimagining Copilot into a more personal and supportive assistant. Separately, new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered agentic features were also teased for the Edge browser. The company is said to be planning to bring the Mico avatar, which appears in the GroupMe app, to Copilot. Interestingly, Microsoft's Copilot announcement comes just days after OpenAI held a livestream event to launch the ChatGPT Atlas browser. What Is Microsoft Likely to Announce for Copilot Ever since the launch of Copilot in 2023, Microsoft has been focused on making it an integrated experience across all of its products and services. Currently, a user can experience the AI chatbot in Windows 11, as a standalone mobile app, a web interface, within GitHub and Azure platforms, as well as across Microsoft 356 apps. Now, the October 23 announcement could reveal more about the company's future vision of Copilot. While the tech giant is tight-lipped about the new features that could be announced, it has hinted at a couple of new introductions. On its Instagram page, Copilot has shared an image of Mico with the caption, "This Thursday, prepare to see the light," hinting that Copilot could finally get avatars. Avatars for Copilot were also teased by the company earlier this year. The avatar is said to be available on the home page and to use animated expressions and gestures while responding to voice conversations. The official X (formerly known as Twitter) handle of Microsoft Edge has also teased new agentic capabilities. The browser received Copilot integration a few months earlier, and it appears the company is now planning to bring agentic actions to it as well. The post mentions, "Why do we browse like this? All of this scrolling, clicking, hunting, when you could just... ask?" According to a TestingCatalog report, Copilot Journeys could also be introduced during the live event. The feature organises the tabs based on the topic of the session. The AI chatbot can recognise the user's end goal and recommend the next steps they should take. This feature was also teased earlier. Apart from this, a new group chat feature, browser memory management, and app connectors are also teased for the scheduled event. Do note that Microsoft has not confirmed any of these features, and the official details will only be revealed at 9:30pm IST.

Microsoft introduces new Copilot features such as collaboration, Google integration

Microsoft unveiled new Copilot features, enhancing collaboration and integrating with services like Outlook and Google to compete in the booming AI market. The digital assistant can now analyze browser tabs, summarize information, and book hotels, while a new avatar, "Mico," aims to make interactions more natural. Microsoft on Thursday introduced new features in its digital assistant Copilot such as collaboration and deeper integration with other services like Outlook and Google, beefing up its artificial intelligence service to stave off a hit from its competition. Other AI service providers such as Anthropic and OpenAI are upgrading their models and launching products aimed at capturing a wider share of the booming AI market. If it gets permission, Copilot can see and use reasoning over a user's tabs on Microsoft's Edge browser, summarize and compare information and take action like booking a hotel. Previous browsers can also be turned into "storylines" so people can revisit older ideas. Along with the software features, the company introduced an avatar called "Mico" - a nod to Microsoft Copilot - which can show expressions and change color to make conversations feel natural, the company said. The upgrades are an attempt to boost the appeal of Microsoft's browser to gain ground on Alphabet's Google Chrome, while OpenAI also entered the browser market with Atlas. Groups turns Copilot into a shared space, able to support up to 32 people, allowing users to collaborate on writing and other projects. The company has also improved Copilot's health-related questions, addressing how to ground responses from credible sources, as concerns over misinformation from AI-generated responses rise.