Microsoft (MSFT) is bringing its generative AI capabilities to Windows PCs. Unveiled during the company’s Build developer conference on Tuesday, the feature, called Windows Copilot, gives users access to an AI-powered bot directly from the Windows taskbar without having to launch a secondary program.
According to Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay, Windows Copilot, which will launch in preview in June, will function across apps and allow users to do everything from looking up quick facts to completing more complex tasks.
“If I want to call my family in Cyprus, I can quickly check the local time to make sure I’m not waking them up in the middle of the night,” Panay explained in a statement. “If I want to plan a trip to visit them in Cyprus, I can ask Windows Copilot to find my family flights and accommodations for mid-winter break.”
The idea is for the app to function as a kind of all-purpose helper for Windows users. Panay says that the software will also work with Bing Chat and first and third-party plugins, meaning developers will be able to create additional ways for users to interact with the app.
Windows Copilot will also be able to control your PCs settings, so you’ll be able to ask it to do things like turn on Windows’ Focus Assist feature. It will also be able to summarize and compose text from other apps.
On Tuesday, the company also announced that it’s giving enterprise customers the ability to build their own copilots for their business purposes. According to Eric Boyd, Microsoft CVP of Azure AI, a company with a number of different health-care plans would, for instance, be able to create a bot that lets employees search for the one right for them that covers eyeglasses using a natural language search rather than having to read through pages of unrelated information.
Boyd offered a similar example of manufacturing giant Siemens using a bot to help workers quickly gain access to and understand quality controls for their own products.
Microsoft is in a race to become Silicon Valley’s go-to name in generative AI thanks to its multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI. But rival Google (GOOG, GOOGL), which helped develop the technology used by generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, isn’t far behind.
The company, like Microsoft, is offering its own generative AI chatbot known as Bard. And at its Google I/O developer conference this month debuted an experimental version of its search engine complete with generative AI capabilities.
Microsoft and Google aren’t the only big names looking to capitalize on the generative AI wave. Facebook parent Meta (META) is also developing its own generative AI software and Apple (AAPL), according to Fortune, is staffing up for a generative AI push.
Daniel Howley is the tech editor at Yahoo Finance. He's been covering the tech industry since 2011. Follow him @DanielHowley
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