Meet Mico, Copilot’s new companion

Microsoft has revealed 12 new features for Copilot, including a new visual companion called Mico that aims give the AI assistant a more expressive presence. The updates are designed to make the Copilot more personal, useful, and connected.

In a YouTube video released last week, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman and Microsoft AI head of product Jacob Andreou showcased the update. The focus, they said, was on the importance of developing AI that is in service of people.  

The update is live in the United States. It will roll out across the UK, Canada, and other regions in the next few weeks. Specific feature availability may vary by market, device, and platform. 

Mico, the new optional visual presence character, appears as an animated orb that shifts colors based on tone. It can listen, react, and changes colours to reflect interactions, aiming to make voice conversations feel more natural.

When repeatedly tapped, Mico reveals an Easter egg that transforms it into Clippy, the animated paperclip assistant from early Microsoft Office versions that provided tips and help in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Users can explore conversation styles such as real talk, a collaborative approach that encourages constructive dialogue, challenges assumptions, and adapts to individual communication styles.

Groups

The new Groups feature turns Copilot into a shared experience. It lets up to 32 users to collaborate in real time. Copilot aims to keep users aligned by summarising threads, proposing options, tallying votes, and splitting tasks. Microsoft says sharing is simple: start a session, then send a link and anyone can join and see the same conversation.

The Imagine feature lets users explore and remix AI-generated ideas in a collaborative space. One can browse creations and adapt them to fit user needs. Microsoft says posts can be liked and remixed, creating a dynamic ecosystem where creativity multiplies.

Memory and shared context 

Copilot now has long term memory, helping users keep track of thoughts and to-do lists. With Memory and Personalisation, one can ask Copilot to remember important information like training for a marathon or an anniversary, then recall it during future interactions. 

Microsoft says it is beginning to roll out the ability to reference past conversations, making it easier to pick up where one left off and reducing the need for repetition. Users can edit, update, or delete memories.

The Connectors feature links services like OneDrive, Outlook, Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar. This aims to simplify search and find content across multiple accounts using natural language.

Users can locate documents, emails and calendar events. Privacy is built in with explicit consent required before any data access.

The Proactive Actions preview feature, currently rolling out in Deep Research, aims to surface timely insights and suggest next steps based on recent activity or research threads. This, says the company, helps users stay ahead without starting from scratch. 

Health, learning and wellbeing 

Health and education are two of the top use cases for AI chatbots and areas where Microsoft says it sees huge opportunity for Copilot to add value.

The Copilot for health feature addresses health-related questions. The company says it has improved how responses are grounded in credible sources like Harvard Health to provide users with reliable information.

According to the Microsoft, Copilot helps users find the right doctors quickly and confidently by matching them based on specialty, location, language, and other preferences. It says the goal is simple: to empower people to take control of their health by providing high-quality information and connecting them to the right care quickly.

With the Learn Live feature, Copilot becomes a voice-enabled tutor that guides users through concepts. It uses questions, visual cues, and interactive whiteboards.

Microsoft says Copilot Mode in Edgeis evolving into an AI browser that is a dynamic, intelligent companion. With a user’s permission, Copilot can see and reason over open tabs, summarise and compare information, and take Actionslike booking a hotel or filling out forms.

Voice-only navigation enables hands-free browsing. The Journeys feature organises past browsing into storylines. This enables users to revisit ideas and resume tasks without retracing steps.

Microsoft says Copilot on Windows is designed to make everyday tasks easier and more intuitive across Windows 11 PCs. The feature aims to integrate seamlessly with users’ existing workflows, offering assistance with activities such as brainstorming ideas and troubleshooting issues.

When enabled and the PC is unlocked, users can activate Copilot with the wake phrase “Hey Copilot”. From the Copilot home interface, one can access recent files, apps, and conversations to resume work efficiently. Copilot can open and summarise files, provide real-time task guidance through Copilot Vision, and will soon support text-based interaction for added flexibility.

Microsoft says new capabilities are being added to make Copilot more versatile beyond Edge and Windows. Pages, the company’s collaborative workspace, now supports multi-file uploads of up to 20 files across common document, image, and text formats.

Copilot Search combines AI-generated responses with traditional search results in a single view, offering cited answers for faster and more reliable discovery. These updates are intended to create a more integrated experience, enabling users to move from ideas to action with greater efficiency.

Microsoft says its strategy is centred on using the most effective AI models, whether developed internally or externally. In recent months, the company has released in-house models such as MAI-Voice-1, MAI-1-Preview, and MAI-Vision-1, with ongoing development and refinement. The integration of these models into its products is still in the early stages, but Microsoft views this work as key to its long-term vision for Copilot, enabling more immersive, creative, and dynamic user experiences.