Microsoft Copilot now boots up automatically for some Insider Preview members. At the same time, Microsoft seems to be making room for competing AI assistants. An option for alternative chat providers offers hope for Google and others to provide AI functionality on Windows as well. The question remains whether it will allow Microsoft to avoid regulatory intervention.
Microsoft has added AI functionality in virtually every application under the Copilot naming scheme. This AI assistant is baked into Windows (for non-EU users) via Windows Copilot. In Insider Preview versions of Windows 11, Copilot already appears to launch automatically at startup for some users. On top of that, Copilot attracted a lot of media attention because there will now be a dedicated button for it on the keyboard.
Insider Preview Build 23606, however, contained another notable addition. Directly below the toggle to launch Copilot directly is a menu option to choose another chat provider. As yet, it is not clear which options are included. However, it indicates that Microsoft may also allow competing AI assistants to operate on Windows.
Getting competitors small
Not everyone agrees that this option is actually going to allow competitors like Google to run their own chatbot within Windows. For example, MSPowerUser assumes that the functionality should let users choose between consumer and enterprise versions of Copilot. If that’s the case, it’s an open goal for competing AI parties to claim foul play. After all, the window is ideally suited to incorporate third-party options and otherwise limits consumer choice to only Microsoft’s offering.
Anyone who remembers the browser wars knows that Microsoft usually goes out of its way to beat out the competition, by any legal means. Its bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows contributed to the death of the once-mighty Netscape, but years later, competing browsers were given more space. Users had to be able to choose alternative options such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, according to the EU in 2013.
Even in the past year, Microsoft has not shied away from pushing its products wherever possible. We asked ourselves in May why Microsoft continues to push the limit in this area. At the time, it was about bundling Teams with Office, which authorities said was anti-competitive. The aggressive push for Microsoft Edge also became of prime concern over the past year. In short, Microsoft is not known for giving competitors space without being compelled to do so. That strategy has proven successful on several occasions. In fact, when the authorities force the behaviour to change, it is already too late. Microsoft Teams, for example, now has over 320 million users, which, in all likelihood, will not suddenly switch to a competing service having adopted it thanks to Microsoft’s bundling.
Step ahead of the competition
Microsoft’s rise in AI is highly unusual, as it happens. Practically every application on Windows or within the Microsoft 365 suite uses a Copilot, but it leans mostly on purchased technology. As a backer of OpenAI, Microsoft obtained access to the advanced models that made the Copilot revolution possible.
So unlike Google, which has been at the forefront of AI for years through internal development, Microsoft relies heavily on a third party. It doesn’t even have any direct control over OpenAI. Also, along with that company, it is burdened by a lawsuit from The New York Times that could possibly topple both parties’ entire AI strategy.
Still, Microsoft has already hit its stride. It has already begun extensively integrating AI functionality, building an edge over the competition before it has a chance to form. With that, it can avoid having a real AI rival to fend off on Windows. Also, for now, it appears it will be able to judge which chat providers will be available through the operating system. The question then will be how integrated a Microsoft competitor can be. After all, there will only be one overarching AI assistant on Windows, and that’s Copilot. This is despite the fact that Copilot functionality has been spread around through mostly autonomous applications with different AI implementations. For the Windows user, it will be clear: AI functions fall under the rubric of Copilot, in whatever form.
Centralized AI functionality sounds appealing for the end user. The problem, however, is that there are plenty of innovations happening now that an overly dominant Copilot could cut down before it has a chance to compete. After all, Microsoft can provide apps from Word and Paint to Excel and Teams with integrations with its Copilot at the OS level. Google could do the same on ChromeOS, but apart from that company, there is no real competitor.
It could initially be positive for users: a Teams meeting could be transferred directly to an AI-generated PowerPoint presentation via Copilot, while an Excel table could be explained in human language in a Word file. This is the logical next step for Microsoft’s Copilot plans for as frictionless a PC as possible. As a result, no other company can create a similar implementation on Windows.
Already behind the times
Application bundling is already being curbed relatively effectively by regulators. The problem around AI is that this playing field is still very young and establishing different rules. Regulators are already struggling to keep up with developments around AI. Privacy and security issues currently dominate. Perhaps rightly so, but in the meantime, Microsoft is entrenching itspowerful position.
To drive innovation, it needs to be clear how AI competition will be regulated on each platform as soon as possible. That already seems clear for mobile users: there are apps to choose from for ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, while Google Bard is available via a webpage. Because there are plenty of phone manufacturers, AI functionality can differentiate one brand from another. It could very well turn out to be a healthy competitive landscape for AI to flourish.
This is not the case in the PC world, where Microsoft has enjoyed dominance for decades. The tech giant has discovered that it does not have to offer AI as a single application but can fully integrate it into any existing solution. In the process, no single app could be judged to be promoted in an anti-competitive manner – it’s the entire ecosystem that works to entrench Microsoft’s advantage. That will force regulators to take a different approach to AI competition. Already, it threatens to fall behind as Microsoft makes its mark.
Also read: Microsoft most spoofed brand for phishing attacks
2 days ago
