Microsoft Copilot Updates Push GenAI To The Mainstream

Sep. 22, 2023 1:55 AM ET Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)

Summary

• Microsoft is working to bring the power of GenAI to as many of its applications and services as it can. At its recent AI event in NYC, the company made it clear that it is now organizing these efforts around the Copilot name, newly designed icon, and more coherent vision.
• In addition, it is working to make the user interface of its GenAI-powered Copilot experiences more consistent across its range of products.
• The two biggest announcements around the event are the launch of a new GenAI-enabled version of Windows 11 coming out next week, as well as the general launch of the Copilot-powered Office suite of applications in Microsoft 365 coming November 1.

Microsoft is actively integrating Generative AI (GenAI) into its applications and services, with a focus on unifying these efforts under the name “Copilot.” This includes creating a more consistent user interface for GenAI-powered Copilot experiences across their range of products.

At a recent AI event, Microsoft made two significant announcements:

1. A new GenAI-enabled version of Windows 11 is set to launch shortly, featuring capabilities for system settings control through chatbot-like text interfaces or voice commands. It also includes GenAI-powered versions of image and video utility apps, such as improved image editing and video summarization features.
2. The launch of the Copilot-powered Office suite of applications in Microsoft 365 on November 1. This suite offers GenAI-powered features for productivity and document management, all accessible via a consistent sidebar-style chat experience known as Microsoft 365 Chat.

Microsoft Copilot 365 will have the ability to summarize email threads, emulate users’ writing styles, provide document summarization and rewriting in various styles, and offer advice on different approaches. New apps like Microsoft Designer, which uses OpenAI’s Dall-E 3 model for image generation, are also being added to the suite.

Additionally, Microsoft introduced Bing Chat Enterprise for mobile devices, which is available for free to existing Microsoft 365 customers and focuses on data privacy. However, it lacks the integration with Microsoft 365 applications found in Microsoft 365 Chat.

Microsoft unveiled new Surface PC devices, including the Surface Laptop Go 3, Surface Go 4, and Surface Laptop Studio 2. The latter offers impressive hardware specs, including Intel 13th Gen Core processors and Nvidia GPUs, enabling it to run GenAI foundation models directly on the device. This demonstrates the growing adoption of GenAI in client devices.

Microsoft is aggressively pushing forward with GenAI-based experiences, with Copilot as a key part of its vision for the future of computing. These developments are expected to impact the billions of Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 users and have far-reaching effects in the technology industry.

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