Microsoft
On Wednesday, Microsoft introduced that Bing Chat—its famously once-unhinged AI chatbot—has been formally renamed “Microsoft Copilot.” The corporate additionally introduced it’s going to assist OpenAI’s lately launched GPTs, that are customized roles for its ChatGPT AI assistant.
The rebranding transfer consolidates Bing Chat into Microsoft’s considerably complicated “Copilot” AI assistant naming scheme, which has a lineage that started with GitHub Copilot in 2021. In March this 12 months, Microsoft introduced Dynamics 365 Copilot, Copilot in Home windows, Microsoft Safety Copilot, and Microsoft 365 Copilot. Now Bing Chat is simply “Microsoft Copilot”—its sixth copilot to this point. Fairly quickly, Microsoft will want a Branding Copilot to maintain all of them straight.
Concerning the naming scheme, Microsoft buyer Amit Malik took to X and wrote, “I really like Microsoft, however this entire copilot factor is changing into extra complicated than it ought to be. Microsoft Copilot, Home windows Copilot, M365 Copilot, then all of the m365 apps, D365 copilot and so forth. AI was presupposed to simplify, not in any other case.” Notice that Malik wrote that in September—almost two months earlier than the current announcement.
Microsoft
Apparently, the Copilot branding is an try and unify slightly than confuse, in keeping with a Microsoft weblog put up: “At Microsoft Ignite 2023, we’re saying new improvements throughout Microsoft Copilot—one copilot expertise that runs throughout all our surfaces, understanding your context on the internet, in your PC, and at work to deliver the correct expertise to you if you want them throughout work and life. Microsoft is the Copilot firm. And shortly there will likely be a Copilot for everybody and for every thing you do.”
However is it actually one Copilot? Every performs completely different duties in several contexts, and even when Microsoft by some means unifies the performance throughout all functions, people who recall the historical past of the differing Copilots should still be confused.
Alongside the rechristening of Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise, Microsoft has launched a devoted web site for Copilot, copilot.microsoft.com, which gives a specialised chat interface—though it requires the Microsoft Edge browser to work. Bing.com (the search engine) will nonetheless provide a mixed search and chat expertise for customers just like what was beforehand supplied with Bing Chat.
However that is not all. Microsoft can be embracing OpenAI’s current transfer towards agent-like AI fashions known as GPTs with Microsoft Copilot Studio (yet one more Copilot, though this one is for making new Copilots). “GPTs are a brand new means for anybody to create a tailor-made model of Copilot for particular duties,” writes Microsoft. “Mixed with the beforehand introduced assist of OpenAI schema plugins, GPTs and plugins will open a brand new alternative throughout citizen {and professional} builders, and supply customers with experiences and interactions tailor-made to fulfill their wants.”
Microsoft says that Microsoft Copilot (the Bing Chat one) will change into usually accessible on December 1. We’ll maintain you up to date if any new Copilots all of a sudden emerge.