Microsoft’s rumored Copilot refresh could turn the AI chatbot into a personalized virtual news presenter — spreading its wings beyond image generation and search

Microsoft's rumored Copilot refresh could turn the AI chatbot into a personalized virtual news presenter — spreading its wings beyond image generation and search

What you need to know

  • Microsoft is reportedly planning to rebrand Copilot into a personalized AI news presenter.
  • This could be part of the company’s broader plan to compete on an even playing field on mobile with OpenAI’s widely adopted ChatGPT.
  • The news comes after Microsoft just shipped Copilot Pages and Copilot agents, months after it halted shipping new experiences to improve and enhance existing ones. 

As a seasoned researcher with a keen interest in AI and its applications, I find myself intrigued by Microsoft’s latest move to rebrand Copilot into a personalized AI news presenter. With over a decade of experience observing tech giants playing their strategic chess games, I can’t help but see this as a bold move to counter OpenAI’s ChatGPT on the mobile front.


For much of this year, there’s been a relatively calm pace in terms of Microsoft Copilot developments, following their announcement to cease creating new experiences to enhance existing ones. However, they have recently started shipping new Copilot experiences again, as demonstrated at their latest Copilot event, which featured the introduction of Copilot agents and Copilot Pages.

Prior to the upcoming event, Tom Warren from The Verge hinted that Microsoft was considering rebranding its Copilot AI assistant in a distinctly Microsoft fashion. It’s uncertain if this rebrand encompasses the new Copilot agents and Copilot Pages. Recently, another report by Tom Warren speculates that Microsoft might transform Copilot into an AI presenter capable of reading news to you.

The upcoming rebrand focuses on Microsoft’s Copilot mobile application, set to include an innovative feature that turns the AI assistant into a virtual news anchor. Based on Warren’s information, Microsoft has been trial-running the revamped Copilot app for several weeks, and it seems to be related to other Microsoft applications.

Similar to Microsoft News (MSN) or Google Discover, users have the option to customize their Copilot newsfeed by choosing topics that interest them. The suggested topics are tailored based on your preferences and Copilot’s past interactions with you. Additionally, Warren proposes potential future functionalities for the AI assistant, such as generating a story for you, suggesting workouts, or automatically displaying sports scores without needing explicit requests from you.

Microsoft is playing chess with OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Microsoft's rumored Copilot refresh could turn the AI chatbot into a personalized virtual news presenter — spreading its wings beyond image generation and search

To be fair, ChatGPT from OpenAI has generally outperformed Microsoft’s Copilot. This is likely due to its earlier launch date and the support of a tech giant dedicated to advancing AI technology, which may explain why it continues to excel even when compared to a chatbot with similar features.

According to a recent report by Appfigures, the release of OpenAI’s GPT-4o caused a significant surge in both revenue and downloads for ChatGPT on mobile devices. Notably, this popular chatbot has just exceeded 200 million weekly active users. Some market analysts and experts believe that the slow adoption of Copilot AI might be due to Microsoft’s less than effective marketing strategies.

As a tech enthusiast, I’ve heard whispers from within Microsoft that users are finding Copilot less effective compared to ChatGPT. However, Microsoft has refuted these claims, suggesting that it’s more about users not utilizing Copilot optimally and inappropriate prompt engineering practices. To tackle these issues head-on, they’ve recently unveiled the Copilot Academy, a platform designed to educate and guide users on how to best harness the power of this tool.

The potential rebranding of Copilot might attract users to its distinctive “card-style layout” and AI-created visuals, enabling interactions with Copilot beyond merely generating images or queries. As Warren explained, users can browse a list of topics and suggestions directly on Copilot without typing anything.

This is a developing story, we’ll keep tabs on any new developments and keep you posted. 

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2024-09-27 19:39