Microsoft integrates its Copilot AI assistant directly into Windows 11

Microsoft has started building an AI chat interface directly into its most prominent software product, the company announced on Tuesday. The tool will perform tasks such as summarizing documents, suggesting music, offering technical support for your PC, and answering questions you might ask an AI search engine or chatbot.

Windows Copilot is slated to arrive in a preview build of Windows in June via a taskbar icon that looks like a loop of blue ribbon. Clicking it opens a chat interface sidebar where you can type questions or prompts like “turn on dark mode” and click buttons to take action.

This is another major step in Microsoft’s embrace of artificial intelligence technology. Previously, the company built AI into its Bing search engine and Edge web browser, but Windows is used by millions more people and for many hours a day.

“We’re bringing the Copilot on the biggest canvas of all, Windows,” CEO Satya Nadella said at the company’s Microsoft Build developer conference.

And the change reflects a growing seriousness in modern AI. Google has started integrating AI directly into its most important services, such as search, Gmail and Docs. Adobe on Tuesday released a beta version of Photoshop that uses AI to generate new images. AI remains experimental, but is no longer on the periphery of the world’s biggest tech products.

Microsoft is also integrating its Copilot technology into its suite of Office productivity tools.