Microsoft announced Tuesday that all PC programs will use "Windows Copilot," a ChatGPT-like framework. Windows 11 users can experience The Copilot in June.
Windows Copilot will be the user's personal helper, Microsoft stated at the Microsoft Build conference, which runs through Thursday. At Build, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, "We are bringing Copilot to the largest canvas of all: Windows." This makes all Windows users advanced. Microsoft, a multibillion-dollar investment in ChatGPT creator OpenAI, began integrating generative artificial intelligence into Bing and Edge in February. Last week, Nadella said Microsoft does not control OpenAI despite the collaboration.
Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's corporate vice president, said Bing will be ChatGPT's default search engine but didn't say when. "ChatGPT is the fastest-growing consumer application we have ever seen," said Nadella. Kevin Scott, Microsoft's chief technology officer and executive vice president of AI, stated that the OpenAI and Microsoft partnership is driving innovation in AI. "Even for us, it's been surprising to see how much of the zeitgeist is being captured by things like ChatGPT," Scott said.
The Copilot will be available to users in a taskbar. Once opened, the Copilot will "maintain consistency across all of your applications, programs, and windows," according to Chief Product Officer Panos Panay. It will be accessible in applications such as Word and Teams. Windows revenue has been a challenge for the technology behemoth. Comparing the most recent quarter to the same quarter a year ago, revenue decreased by more than 12 percent to $5.35 billion.
Advocacy groups, researchers, and even AI startups like OpenAI want more AI norms and restrictions as tech giants like Microsoft and Google expand their AI implementation. In a Senate testimony earlier this month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called for rules to minimize AI-related harms like disinformation. "I believe that if this technology fails, it can fail badly," Altman remarked. Microsoft claims to have an internal AI ethics team and a set of AI principles that include leadership participation, inclusive governance and actionable guidelines, also of investment and empowering people.