Xbox CEO Sharma halts Copilot on console, mobile
SkimNews Take
Microsoft's repositioning of CoreAI talent into Xbox suggests a strategic pivot from consumer-facing gaming AI to foundational AI development, potentially to address broader internal AI infrastructure challenges.
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- Asha Sharma announced Tuesday that Xbox will wind down Copilot on mobile and stop development of Copilot on console as part of retiring features that don't align with Xbox's new direction
- Sharma reorganized the Xbox platform team the same day, adding executives from Microsoft's CoreAI team — where she worked before taking over Xbox
- Microsoft said in March that gaming-focused Copilot would arrive on current-generation consoles "sometime this year," a commitment now publicly abandoned less than six months later
- Sharma succeeded former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in February and has since scrapped the Microsoft Gaming brand and cut Xbox Game Pass pricing
Why it matters: Microsoft publicly committed to shipping Copilot for Gaming on current-gen consoles in March and touted the product "last year" — killing it on console within months represents a visible reversal of a recent roadmap. Pulling CoreAI executives into Xbox the same day suggests the AI expertise is being redirected internally rather than abandoned, while players lose a flagship AI feature that was positioned as a selling point for the platform.
