Microsoft Merges Copilot Apps, Cuts Unused Features
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- Microsoft is merging its consumer-facing Copilot app with the Microsoft 365 Copilot business app, combining their functionality into a single app with mobile and web rollout in mid-August and desktop in mid-September.
- Microsoft will cut consumer access to Group Chats, AI-generated podcasts, Copilot Labs experimental features, and Deep Research by August 18, 2026, with paying business users getting Researcher as a Deep Research replacement.
- Microsoft is retiring Mico, its animated blob character for Copilot, which critics likened to "an AI-ified version of Clippy."
- Files generated by the standalone consumer Copilot app will be migrated to OneDrive during the transition, and Microsoft warned other features may temporarily disappear.
- Microsoft EVP Jacob Andreou, who oversees Copilot, told staff in an internal memo reported by The Information in July that the app needed to earn "the right to exist" by moving on from features that didn't work.
- The consolidation mirrors competitors: Claude merged Cowork into Chat, OpenAI merged its Operator agentic feature into ChatGPT, and Google combined deep research with web browsing inside its Gemini app.
Why it matters: Microsoft is pruning Copilot features that didn't gain traction—including the Mico character and Deep Research for consumers—while consolidating against rivals who already merged agentic capabilities into single experiences. The explicit August 2026 deadline and Andreou's "right to exist" memo show how directly Microsoft is rationalizing its AI portfolio after conceding it was spread too thin.
Ask SkimNews
