Microsoft

Exclusive: Microsoft is building a super app that combines coding, chat, and other Copilot AI tools

Microsoft needs to solve a nagging problem: It has various Copilot AI assistants throughout its portfolio of products, irking customers who seek a single destination. The company is planning to solve that by creating a super app for its most popular AI tools.  Recommended Video The software giant is working on a one-stop shop that

Microsoft needs to solve a nagging problem: It has various Copilot AI assistants throughout its portfolio of products, irking customers who seek a single destination. The company is planning to solve that by creating a super app for its most popular AI tools. 

The software giant is working on a one-stop shop that would connect its GitHub Copilot coding assistant, Copilot chat function, Copilot Cowork tool, and a new agentic workflow capability internally named Autopilot into a single app, according to two sources familiar with the project, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a platform that hasn’t yet been released. The project is being spearheaded by Jacob Andreou, Microsoft’s recently appointed head of Copilot. One of Andreou’s primary tasks has been to unite the consumer and enterprise sides of Copilot into a cohesive product. 

Some elements of the app, which is being developed internally with the slogan “Delivering one Copilot,” could be referenced at Microsoft’s Build developer conference next week in San Francisco, though there are no plans to showcase the app itself. The company plans to launch the super app by the end of summer. The plans for the super app could evolve and are not yet final, the sources said, but the idea is to be able to combine a user’s Copilots into one central interface, including accounts from the productivity-focused Microsoft 365 Copilot.

There may also be a toggle function for a user to go back and forth between their personal and enterprise 365 Copilots. A user will still be able to access their Copilots outside of the super app. Microsoft declined to comment.

Microsoft isn’t alone in attempting to create a super app. Its partner-rival OpenAI has had plans to combine its ChatGPT app and its Codex coding tool with its web browser into a single destination. Elon Musk has long held an ambition to make the X social media app into a super app for communication, media, and commerce. Uber and Meta have also increasingly put services under a single app. 

Microsoft has found that customers dislike shifting between its Copilot tools, and the company also seeks for people to see more value from Copilot, the sources familiar with the plans said.

The stakes are high for Microsoft, which was one of the first tech companies to make a big bet on AI, through a $13 billion partnership with OpenAI, but then lost its early lead as various rivals joined the race. The Copilot brand has struggled as a result of several issues. It has had a historic reliance on OpenAI’s AI models, which have at times lagged behind rivals in benchmarks and made Microsoft late to create its own models. Microsoft also launched several versions of Copilot, confusing customers. Until recently, Microsoft employees were split into distinct consumer and commercial Copilot teams, which made it difficult to have a unified AI vision. 

The various Copilots have existed as both free consumer versions, as well as paid enterprise options. Less than 4.5% of the 450 million customers of its Microsoft 365 office suite currently pay for Copilot features. GitHub Copilot, which uses AI f

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Microsoft

Today’s Top Stories: Microsoft, Meta AI Gains Push Stocks Higher as Bitcoin Holds Steady

TLDR Microsoft shares rose about 3% after unveiling new Copilot AI tools, including an always-on AI agent. Meta’s Muse AI assistant drove roughly $200 billion in market value gains after 2.8 million downloads in 12 days. U.S. stocks traded near flat as investors weighed AI optimism against higher bond yields and oil prices…

TLDR Microsoft shares rose about 3% after unveiling new Copilot AI tools, including an always-on AI agent. Meta’s Muse AI assistant drove roughly $200 billion in market value gains after 2.8 million downloads in 12 days. U.S. stocks traded near flat as investors weighed AI optimism against higher bond yields and oil prices…
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Microsoft

Microsoft Culled Age of Empires Studio Before Handing It Over to Activision, With Nearly Half of All Staff Gone

Age of Empires studio World’s Edge lost almost half of all employees this week, as part of Microsoft’s latest round of job losses. The cuts form part of the 268 staff let go across the wider Xbox business, as part of a projected target of 3,200 job losses forecast over the course of this current

Age of Empires studio World’s Edge lost almost half of all employees this week, as part of Microsoft’s latest round of job losses.

The cuts form part of the 268 staff let go across the wider Xbox business, as part of a projected target of 3,200 job losses forecast over the course of this current financial year.

It was announced on Monday that World’s Edge would now be part of Activision, though details on how the studio’s employees had been impacted remained unclear. In the days since, however, staff have now reported via social media that nearly 50% of the company was now out of work, while its next project had been cancelled.

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“I am of course disappointed that this is the way the time with World’s Edge and Age ends for myself and many of my talented teammates that were also impacted — we had some great plans for what’s next,” wrote Adam Isgreen, formerly the company’s studio creative director, who had served at World’s Edge for 16 years. “I hope the team that remains can rise to the occasion down the line.”

“Our studio was reorganized to be under the Activision umbrella,” added Andrew Martz, formerly a senior software engineer at the studio. “As part of that reorg, our next project was cancelled and a large chunk of our studio was laid off. I was part of that layoff.”

“‘It was nice working with you’ was not a message I expected to get while on vacation,” wrote another laid-off staff member, former lead principal software engineer Greg Snook. “Like many others, I was cut loose from Microsoft today. Turns out my last day with building access is also my exact 25-year hire anniversary.”

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It’s unclear what’s next for World’s Edge under Activision, as well as the Age of Empires brand as a whole. While the studio oversaw development of the real-time strategy franchise, it relied on partnerships with external developers such as Relic Entertainment, which was the primary developer for Age of Empires IV. Launched in 2021 for PC, it has since now been ported to Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

Will Age of Empires 5 follow? It seems inevitable, though Activision’s ownership may see the studio’s remaining staff put to work elsewhere. A Halo strategy title, perhaps, now Activision is also overseeing Xbox’s main shooter brand? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, the Viking Sagas DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launched on Tuesday. It adds three brand new civilizations, 15 new single-player campaign scenarios, and more.

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Tom Phillips
News Editor

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

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Everyone assumed the Windows taskbar copied a rival OS. Microsoft says no

In a recent social media thread, Microsoft veterans Brad Silverberg, Joe Belfiore, and Dave Plummer shared a few anecdotes and clarifications about how the taskbar became part of Windows. The taskbar, first introduced with Windows 95, allowed users to keep track of multiple active programs simultaneously…

In a recent social media thread, Microsoft veterans Brad Silverberg, Joe Belfiore, and Dave Plummer shared a few anecdotes and clarifications about how the taskbar became part of Windows.

The taskbar, first introduced with Windows 95, allowed users to keep track of multiple active programs simultaneously…
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Chrome Web Store extensions caught stealing crypto, browser data

Multiple extensions for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge delivered a malware framework that deployed modules to steal cryptocurrency, sensitive data, and browser history, as well as inject ClickFix lures. …

Multiple extensions for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge delivered a malware framework that deployed modules to steal cryptocurrency, sensitive data, and browser history, as well as inject ClickFix lures. …
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