Microsoft has staked its future on artificial intelligence, channeling billions into Copilot, a suite of AI-powered assistants designed to help consumers and professionals navigate everything from daily schedules to software development. Yet despite Wall Street’s bullish projections and the company’s robust infrastructure, Copilot is still struggling to break into the public consciousness and capture the kind of cultural cachet enjoyed by ChatGPT, OpenAI’s wildly popular chatbot, which recently surpassed a staggering 900 million downloads. By comparison, Copilot’s 79 million app downloads pale, sparking debate about whether Microsoft’s AI investment will pay off—or whether it risks being outpaced in the tech landscape it helped to shape.
At the heart of this story is a fierce battle for AI dominance—not just in the boardroom, but on everyday devices. ChatGPT’s runaway download numbers reveal a clear preference among users for AI tools that offer immediate value and accessibility, particularly on smartphones. Microsoft, a heavyweight in enterprise software, finds itself in an unfamiliar position: chasing rather than leading a key technology trend. While Copilot has been built into flagship products like Word, Outlook, and Windows, its reach beyond workplaces and into the hands of everyday consumers remains limited.
Part of this dynamic is rooted in user experience. Tyson Jominy, a data and analytics leader, captures a sentiment echoed by many: Copilot’s appearances are often accidental—a symptom of a product struggling to seamlessly integrate into its users’ digital lives. In contrast, ChatGPT is a go-to assistant for millions, not just in work settings but as a general-purpose tool for queries, writing, and even navigating social chatter via platforms like Grok on X (formerly Twitter).
Yet, behind the scenes, the struggle to differentiate Copilot from ChatGPT has surfaced structural challenges. Both products use similar large language models from OpenAI, but Microsoft’s additions—bolting Copilot onto legacy products—have yet to inspire a breakout moment. The technical advantage that should have stemmed from Microsoft’s deep collaboration with OpenAI has not yet translated into dominant market share. Instead, the company finds itself refining, rebranding, and sometimes restarting its AI efforts to match the competition.
Suleyman’s hands-on approach, including rapid six-week product sprints inherited from his Inflection days, has quickened Copilot’s development. Team members are encouraged to experiment freely and assess progress candidly, a sharp change from Microsoft’s traditionally risk-averse culture. Suleyman’s mantra is clear: AI should be useful, supportive, and keep humans firmly in the loop. While his leadership style has been divisive—some see it as visionary, others as risky—his presence signals Microsoft’s determination to win the AI platform war.
Microsoft’s Copilot ads present a vision where AI is the missing glue for everyday productivity—scheduling appointments, managing PC settings, optimizing battery life. But the reality falls short of the promise. Unlike its predecessor Cortana, which a decade ago could handle reminders and emails from within Windows, today’s Copilot cannot perform basic system tasks like adjusting volume or launching Outlook.
This disconnect is partly by design. Microsoft executives are cautious about forcing users into unfamiliar routines. Instead, AI innovation is bolted onto existing apps, rather than reimagining the graphical interface wholesale—a safer, but arguably slower, strategy. Compounding matters, the slow cadence of Windows updates (just a few major releases each year) poorly aligns with the rapid iteration pace demanded by modern AI product teams.
Despite this, Copilot’s mobile app saw a brief surge in popularity after a targeted ad campaign on Apple’s App Store. According to Sensor Tower, monthly active users rose by 76% between April and June, hitting 23 million. Nonetheless, this pace lags behind competitors—underscoring the uphill climb still ahead.
Still, execution remains uneven. Users report uneven memory—Copilot sometimes misapplies remembered details—and persistent bugs mar the experience, such as conversations ending abruptly or the chatbot referencing outdated information. As is common across AI platforms, Copilot is limited by the information it can access: relying on Bing’s web searches means it sometimes recites inaccurate news or misdirects users entirely (for instance, suggesting EV charging stations when asked about travel chargers).
Despite the vision, Microsoft’s consumer Copilot is still rarely the indispensable assistant it aims to be. Users like Shamontiel Vaughn, who was initially wowed when Copilot correctly pronounced her name, typically find the experience underwhelming within moments—impressed by technical feats but disheartened by gaps in knowledge and reliability. Vaughn uses Copilot for the occasional research or cooking tip but considers it more of a “nice to have” than a must-have.
Still, that advantage is not absolute. Many office workers show a clear preference for ChatGPT, lobbying managers for access to the OpenAI product. Some companies are hedging bets, piloting both Copilot and ChatGPT, waiting for employee feedback before making a decision. Microsoft’s leverage here could erode fast if users rebel or if technical differentiation fails to materialize.
The evidence so far is mixed. Growth is real—monthly active users up 76%—but not the sort that signals mainstream breakthrough. Microsoft’s long-term corporate relationships and technical assets afford it a strategic runway, but the clock is ticking. Winning consumers, not just corporate clients, is critical for AI leadership. Suleyman’s rapid product experimentation marks a step in the right direction, but patience is finite—internally and on the market.
Suleyman’s rejection of artificial general intelligence as a goal—focusing instead on helpfulness and support—may position Copilot as a more grounded, practical companion for everyday tasks. Yet, if the pace of product evolution doesn’t accelerate, Microsoft risks becoming a footnote—one whose AI ambitions ultimately fuel competitors’ success more than its own.
For now, Copilot remains an intriguing, sometimes flaky, and often optional assistant—a tool with enormous potential but no guaranteed future. Whether Microsoft can turn its massive investment into a truly indispensable AI companion remains an open—and closely watched—question.
Source: thestar.com.my Microsoft's Copilot is getting lapped by 900 million ChatGPT downloads
At the heart of this story is a fierce battle for AI dominance—not just in the boardroom, but on everyday devices. ChatGPT’s runaway download numbers reveal a clear preference among users for AI tools that offer immediate value and accessibility, particularly on smartphones. Microsoft, a heavyweight in enterprise software, finds itself in an unfamiliar position: chasing rather than leading a key technology trend. While Copilot has been built into flagship products like Word, Outlook, and Windows, its reach beyond workplaces and into the hands of everyday consumers remains limited.Part of this dynamic is rooted in user experience. Tyson Jominy, a data and analytics leader, captures a sentiment echoed by many: Copilot’s appearances are often accidental—a symptom of a product struggling to seamlessly integrate into its users’ digital lives. In contrast, ChatGPT is a go-to assistant for millions, not just in work settings but as a general-purpose tool for queries, writing, and even navigating social chatter via platforms like Grok on X (formerly Twitter).
Microsoft’s AI Vision: Strategy and Execution
Despite the optics, Microsoft’s AI ambitions remain undiminished. At a recent all-hands meeting, CEO Satya Nadella reaffirmed the mission: hundreds of millions actively using the Copilot family. The goal, insiders say, is to infuse Copilot across all experiences—coding, productivity, and personal life—effectively making AI an invisible co-pilot for every digital interaction. This reflects a radical extension of the company’s shift that began two years back, when the Bing search engine was overhauled to function as an AI companion.Yet, behind the scenes, the struggle to differentiate Copilot from ChatGPT has surfaced structural challenges. Both products use similar large language models from OpenAI, but Microsoft’s additions—bolting Copilot onto legacy products—have yet to inspire a breakout moment. The technical advantage that should have stemmed from Microsoft’s deep collaboration with OpenAI has not yet translated into dominant market share. Instead, the company finds itself refining, rebranding, and sometimes restarting its AI efforts to match the competition.
Leadership and Organizational Change
Recognizing the need for fresh energy, Nadella tapped Mustafa Suleyman, a British AI luminary who helped found DeepMind and Inflection, to spearhead consumer AI efforts. Suleyman brings a reputation for bold recruitment, experimentation, and philosophical takes on AI’s future. He’s credited with splitting Copilot into separate consumer and workplace tracks, acknowledging that the needs of a corporate user—who may only want email automation or spreadsheet help—are fundamentally different from those of a consumer, who might crave life guidance, shopping advice, or even emotional support after life events.Suleyman’s hands-on approach, including rapid six-week product sprints inherited from his Inflection days, has quickened Copilot’s development. Team members are encouraged to experiment freely and assess progress candidly, a sharp change from Microsoft’s traditionally risk-averse culture. Suleyman’s mantra is clear: AI should be useful, supportive, and keep humans firmly in the loop. While his leadership style has been divisive—some see it as visionary, others as risky—his presence signals Microsoft’s determination to win the AI platform war.
Product Frictions: A Rocky Transition
However, this consumer focus has not been without turbulence. Major changes—like decoupling the consumer Copilot app from its workplace counterpart—caused disruptions. Android users who had made Copilot their default assistant lost that capability overnight. Features such as quick image editing vanished, only to be slowly reintroduced later. App store reviews reflect this teething phase, with users venting frustrations over bugs, broken conversations, and lost histories.Microsoft’s Copilot ads present a vision where AI is the missing glue for everyday productivity—scheduling appointments, managing PC settings, optimizing battery life. But the reality falls short of the promise. Unlike its predecessor Cortana, which a decade ago could handle reminders and emails from within Windows, today’s Copilot cannot perform basic system tasks like adjusting volume or launching Outlook.
This disconnect is partly by design. Microsoft executives are cautious about forcing users into unfamiliar routines. Instead, AI innovation is bolted onto existing apps, rather than reimagining the graphical interface wholesale—a safer, but arguably slower, strategy. Compounding matters, the slow cadence of Windows updates (just a few major releases each year) poorly aligns with the rapid iteration pace demanded by modern AI product teams.
Mobile Hurdles: Platform Power Plays
Copilot’s default identity as a mobile app exposes another serious challenge: platform control. The vast majority of smartphones worldwide run on either Android (owned by Alphabet/Google) or iOS (Apple), both of which are rapidly integrating their own native AI. Microsoft, which never established a hit consumer mobile app from scratch in this domain, faces entrenched competition. As Matthew Quinlan, a former Microsoft manager, observed, “It’s incredibly difficult, especially when the owners of those devices are trying to do the same thing.”Despite this, Copilot’s mobile app saw a brief surge in popularity after a targeted ad campaign on Apple’s App Store. According to Sensor Tower, monthly active users rose by 76% between April and June, hitting 23 million. Nonetheless, this pace lags behind competitors—underscoring the uphill climb still ahead.
Under the Hood: Features and Functionality
Where Copilot distinguishes itself, Microsoft hopes, is with two features: vision and voice. Vision lets Copilot analyze what’s on screen or captured by a camera, enabling contextual help. Voice interaction, meanwhile, has been engineered for more natural, less robotic conversations. For example, the bot recognizes pauses versus finished thoughts, creating a service that, when it works, feels uncannily fluid.Still, execution remains uneven. Users report uneven memory—Copilot sometimes misapplies remembered details—and persistent bugs mar the experience, such as conversations ending abruptly or the chatbot referencing outdated information. As is common across AI platforms, Copilot is limited by the information it can access: relying on Bing’s web searches means it sometimes recites inaccurate news or misdirects users entirely (for instance, suggesting EV charging stations when asked about travel chargers).
Despite the vision, Microsoft’s consumer Copilot is still rarely the indispensable assistant it aims to be. Users like Shamontiel Vaughn, who was initially wowed when Copilot correctly pronounced her name, typically find the experience underwhelming within moments—impressed by technical feats but disheartened by gaps in knowledge and reliability. Vaughn uses Copilot for the occasional research or cooking tip but considers it more of a “nice to have” than a must-have.
The Corporate Shield: Will Enterprise Save Copilot?
If Copilot’s public adoption seems modest, the corporate sphere may offer a vital safety net. Microsoft’s long relationships with business clients provide a distribution channel competitors cannot easily match. In offices, Copilot is more likely to become default, not because users prefer it, but because IT mandates can make it so.Still, that advantage is not absolute. Many office workers show a clear preference for ChatGPT, lobbying managers for access to the OpenAI product. Some companies are hedging bets, piloting both Copilot and ChatGPT, waiting for employee feedback before making a decision. Microsoft’s leverage here could erode fast if users rebel or if technical differentiation fails to materialize.
Critical Analysis: Strengths and Advantages
- Deep Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem: Copilot’s single biggest asset is its native access to Outlook, Word, Teams, and the broader Windows environment. No other AI assistant can so tightly embed itself into the workflows of hundreds of millions of office workers and home users.
- Enterprise Distribution: While not glamorous, default deployment across managed devices ensures Copilot a foundational user base that’s insulated from consumer fickleness and app store headwinds. Active nudges and integration hooks in Windows can quietly swell user numbers—even if engagement lags.
- Technical Potential: With access to cutting-edge models (including OpenAI’s latest), plus its own research labs, Microsoft can theoretically leapfrog rivals with the right investment. Suleyman’s focus on experimentation and iteration increases the odds of Copilot developing breakthrough features—especially vision and naturalistic voice.
- Adaptive Leadership: Recruiting Suleyman and bringing startup agility to a behemoth like Microsoft signals a recognition of existential stakes and a willingness to act boldly.
Key Risks and Concerns
- Missed Consumer Mindshare: The immense lead of ChatGPT in downloads and engagement highlights a brand and utility gap that advertising alone cannot bridge. If Copilot remains a second-choice or fallback assistant, it risks irrelevance outside corporate walls.
- Platform Barriers: With Google and Apple rapidly adding AI to their operating systems, it may become even harder for Copilot to establish a meaningful presence on mobile—especially if system-level integrations get locked down or competing assistants get privileged treatment.
- Product Consistency and Quality: The current user experience is marred by bugs, missing features, and growing pains. Reviews continue to flag resets, lost conversations, and weak performance relative to expectations built by Microsoft’s own marketing.
- Innovation-by-Accretion: Bolting AI onto legacy applications rather than rethinking the user experience may slow progress and limit Copilot’s potential. This conservative approach, while minimizing disruption, could yield only incremental gains and may leave Microsoft lagging in interface innovation.
- Corporate User Backlash: Should office users rebel against Copilot, preferring more intuitive or robust tools, Microsoft’s distribution shield could quickly become a liability, as IT and HR see AI mandates as a source of user frustration and lost productivity.
Market Implications: Can Microsoft Catch Up?
Microsoft’s predicament is not just a story about a faltering app—it’s a test of how quickly a legacy giant can adapt to a new AI landscape driven by consumer momentum and unfettered innovation. While Wall Street continues to prize the company’s AI potential, investors and insiders are growing restive, watching closely to see if Copilot can bridge the perception and utility gap with rivals like ChatGPT.The evidence so far is mixed. Growth is real—monthly active users up 76%—but not the sort that signals mainstream breakthrough. Microsoft’s long-term corporate relationships and technical assets afford it a strategic runway, but the clock is ticking. Winning consumers, not just corporate clients, is critical for AI leadership. Suleyman’s rapid product experimentation marks a step in the right direction, but patience is finite—internally and on the market.
Looking Forward: The Future of Copilot
If Copilot succeeds, it will be because Microsoft manages to balance its strengths—distribution, ecosystem, AI research muscle—with the agility and user-focus exemplified by the most successful digital companions. The next phase will require healing the user experience, deepening PC and mobile integration, and building features people didn’t know they needed but soon cannot live without.Suleyman’s rejection of artificial general intelligence as a goal—focusing instead on helpfulness and support—may position Copilot as a more grounded, practical companion for everyday tasks. Yet, if the pace of product evolution doesn’t accelerate, Microsoft risks becoming a footnote—one whose AI ambitions ultimately fuel competitors’ success more than its own.
For now, Copilot remains an intriguing, sometimes flaky, and often optional assistant—a tool with enormous potential but no guaranteed future. Whether Microsoft can turn its massive investment into a truly indispensable AI companion remains an open—and closely watched—question.
Source: thestar.com.my Microsoft's Copilot is getting lapped by 900 million ChatGPT downloads