Microsoft will add artificial intelligence assistant Copilot to the Windows 11 operating system, The Verge reports. Windows Copilot will be integrated directly into Windows 11 and will be able to be opened and used from the taskbar across all apps and programs.
“Once open, the Windows Copilot side bar stays consistent across your apps, programs, and windows, always available to act as your personal assistant. It makes every user a power user, helping you take action, customize your settings, and seamlessly connect across your favorite apps.”
explains Panos Panay, Microsoft’s head of Windows and devices.
Windows Copilot can summarize the content you’re viewing in apps, rewrite it, or even explain it. Its purpose overlaps with that of the dialog box found in Bing Chat, so you can ask it common questions and things that are commonly asked of the search engine.
Copilot will not directly replace the search bar in the Windows 11 taskbar. It will be a separate Copilot button. According to Microsoft, Windows Copilot is a “personal assistant,” which sounds very similar to the way Microsoft described Cortana as a “personal productivity assistant.”
Microsoft will allow developers to extend plugins written for OpenAI’s Bing or ChatGPT to this AI-powered assistant. Windows Copilot will offer many new features that developers create for ChatGPT and Bing, and for future enhancements that are automatically ported to Windows Copilot.
Testing of Windows Copilot will begin publicly in June before the company rolls it out more broadly to existing Windows 11 users.