Microsoft is going to bring AI personal assistant Copilot to Windows

Microsoft will integrate a ChatGPT-like system called “Windows Copilot” into all PC apps, the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant announced Tuesday. Copilot will be available for Windows 11 as a preview in June.

Windows Copilot will be the user’s personal assistant, the company announced during the Microsoft Build conference that runs until Thursday.

“We’re bringing CoPilot to the biggest canvas of all: Windows,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the opening of Build. “It’s going to make every user a power user of Windows.”

Microsoft, a multi-billion-dollar investor in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, has been incorporating generative artificial intelligence into its products, beginning with search engine Bing and browser Edge in February. Despite the partnership, Nadella said last week that Microsoft does not control OpenAI.

Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s corporate vice president, said ChatGPT will offer Bing as the default search engine but did not say when it would be available.

“ChatGPT is the fastest growing consumer app ever,” Nadella said.

Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of AI, Kevin Scott, said that OpenAI and Microsoft’s partnership is setting the pace of innovation in AI.

“Even for us, it’s amazing to see how much zeitgeist is being embraced by things like ChatGPT,” Scott said during the conference.

Co-Pilot will be available to users in a taskbar. Once opened, Copilot will “remain consistent across your apps, programs, and windows,” said Panos Panay, chief product officer. It will be available to users in apps like Word and Teams.

Windows revenue has been a source of struggle for the tech giant. Revenue declined more than 12% to $5.3 billion in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter last year.

While tech giants like Microsoft and Google are accelerating the deployment of AI technologies, advocacy groups, researchers and even AI startups like OpenAI are calling for a more robust set of AI guidelines and regulations.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a Senate testimony earlier this month that lawmakers should create rules to prevent the potential harm of AI like misinformation. “I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go terribly wrong,” Altman said.

Microsoft says it has an in-house AI ethics team and a set of AI principles, including leadership involvement, inclusive governance and actionable guidelines, and investment and empowerment for people.

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