The AI assistant had its personality stripped in pursuit of a more consistent experience. Copilot is getting yet another visual overhaul as Microsoft reconsiders its approach to AI across Windows and its various apps. The new changes are focused on the version of Copilot accessible in Microsoft 365, and visually streamline the AI assistant to using it more consistent across apps like Word, PowerPoint and Excel. The most striking difference in Copilot's new look is how little color it has. You can still get Copilot to produce full-color outputs and it will reference other apps by their colorful app icons.

PCWorld reports that Microsoft is enhancing Copilot with new user controls, including read-only options and the ability to lock the AI assistant to specific document sections. Microsoft is expanding Copilot's prompt box with contextually aware suggestions for Word and PowerPoint, while unifying commercial and consumer versions under single leadership. These updates aim to make AI assistance more helpful and less overwhelming for productivity tasks, with features currently being tested internally before reaching consumers. Google made headlines a short time ago for a plan to expand its Gemini prompt box as it combines AI and search. Microsoft is taking a different tack: it's also dynamically expanding its prompt box, but with an eye towards improving its productivity apps instead. Right now, Microsoft's efforts are traversing the outer reaches of its productivity solar system, being tested internally with a few targeted corporate partners, Fast Company reports .

PCWorld reports that Microsoft Edge's new AI-driven'Journeys' feature is replacing traditional browser history with AI summaries that often omit direct website links. This change frustrates users by hindering their ability to find specific previously visited sites, removing the autonomy provided by conventional browsing tools. Microsoft is also discontinuing the useful'Collections' feature in favor of this AI-centric approach, representing a step backward in browser functionality. There's a school of thought that says that "AI brain" is a real thing, where AI quietly removes the traditional need to think through a problem. In this context, Microsoft Edge's AI-brain problem just got a lot worse -- and it's actively blocking your ability to get things done. Microsoft began rolling out substantial updates to the Edge desktop and mobile browser today, and yes, they obviously prioritize Copilot. Some of these feel familiar; didn't Google launch automated quizzes and podcasts months ago? But Copilot isn't just being added to Edge. It's actively taking over portions of Edge that humans used to manage themselves, specifically the nearly infinite list of sites that you've browsed as part of your browser history.

Xbox is ditching Microsoft's Copilot AI Xbox is ditching Microsoft's Copilot AI Microsoft announced plans to start stripping Copilot out of select Windows apps in March after criticism of the company's mishandling of its operating system reached a fever pitch. As it turns out though, Windows isn't the only place where you'll see less Copilot: Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has announced that the AI assistant will also be removed from the gaming brand's mobile app and Xbox consoles. Under previous Xbox leadership, Copilot was introduced as a sort of in-game assistant that would be aware of what you're playing and able to offer contextual advice based on what's on your screen. Microsoft launched a beta version of the experience by adding Copilot to the Xbox mobile app in May 2025, but based on a GDC presentation the company gave in March, the plan was to also bring Copilot to Xbox consoles later this year. Those plans apparently don't align with where Xbox is headed, Sharma said in a post announcing new hires to the Xbox division.

PCWorld reports Microsoft 365 Copilot has evolved from offering passive suggestions to actively making live changes in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word documents. The upgraded agentic capabilities allow Copilot to create presentations and documents from scratch, though with some limitations like missing graphics. These enhanced features are available across Microsoft 365 Copilot, Premium, Personal, and Family subscriptions, representing a significant productivity upgrade. Although Microsoft's Copilot reportedly remains far behind competing AI Large Language Models (LLMs) in terms of usage, the Copilot built into its Microsoft 365 applications remains a potent assistant.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has unearthed the potential to assist humans in controlling advanced technologies. Shared autonomy (SA) facilitates control by combining inputs from a human pilot and an AI copilot. In prior SA studies, the copilot is constantly active in determining the action played at each time step. This limits human autonomy that may have deleterious effects on performance. In general, the amount of helpful copilot assistance varies greatly depending on the task dynamics.

PCWorld reports Microsoft has stopped automatically installing Microsoft 365 Copilot on Windows 11 following significant user backlash against forced AI integration. This decision addresses privacy concerns after a previous Copilot bug allowed unauthorized access to confidential Outlook emails. Administrators can still manually deploy the AI assistant, while existing installations remain unaffected by this policy change. Since October, the Microsoft 365 Copilot app has been automatically installed on computers running Windows 11, a move that has upset many users. Fortunately, Microsoft has taken the criticism on board and is no longer automatically installing this app--for now.

PCWorld reports Microsoft is scaling back Copilot AI integration in Windows 11 after widespread user dissatisfaction and poor reception. The company has shelved plans to embed Copilot into notifications and settings, reversing its previous commitment that every Windows 11 PC would be an AI PC. This strategic shift comes as Copilot+ PCs have underperformed in the market, prompting Microsoft to reduce AI bloat across the operating system. Microsoft apparently doesn't know what to do with itself, at least as far as Copilot, AI, and Windows are concerned. Recent reports suggest that Microsoft is backing away from more AI in Windows 11.

One difficulty in using artificial agents for human-assistive applications lies in the challenge of accurately assisting with a person's goal(s). Existing methods tend to rely on inferring the human's goal, which is challenging when there are many potential goals or when the set of candidate goals is difficult to identify. We propose a new paradigm for assistance by instead increasing thehuman's ability tocontroltheir environment, and formalize this approach byaugmenting reinforcement learning withhuman empowerment.