Microsoft begins rolling out a unified Copilot app across platforms, removing some popular consumer features and shifting key tools like Deep Research behind premium paywalls, signalling a strategic shift amidst growing 경쟁.
Microsoft has started pushing out a unified Copilot app to Windows Insiders, marking the first visible step in a wider overhaul that will bring its consumer and work AI products under one roof. The redesign began on 13 August and is set to spread across mobile, web, Windows and macOS in stages, with Microsoft saying the transition will continue through mid-September. The company is also reworking the branding so that Microsoft 365 Copilot becomes simply Copilot, with a new icon and a new web address for commercial users.
For consumer users, the change is more disruptive than cosmetic. Microsoft says Copilot Podcasts will be retired on 18 August, and previously created podcasts will no longer be accessible or exportable. Group Chat content is also being removed, with threads, messages and images due to be deleted permanently. Microsoft’s own support material says there will be no bulk-save option for podcasts, while earlier guidance indicated that the feature is being shut down for consumer Copilot users altogether.
The biggest functional loss is Deep Research, which had allowed users to generate longer, source-backed reports from web material. Microsoft says existing reports will stay in chat history, but creating new ones will require a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription. Reporting from Windows Central and Thurrott indicates that the replacement, Researcher, is aimed at paying users and is more tightly tied to Microsoft 365 data such as mail, calendars and files. That makes the feature more useful inside Microsoft’s ecosystem, but it also means the free consumer tier is losing one of its most advanced tools.
Microsoft is also trimming the consumer experience elsewhere. The animated assistant Mico is being removed from the core Copilot app, and some Health and Shopping functions may be temporarily unavailable during the transition. For users who keep both personal and work accounts, Microsoft says the unified app will preserve separation between identities, with no cross-over of data and no change to enterprise security or compliance controls. Windows Central reports that the personal and business experiences will largely share the same interface, but with account context clearly signposted.
The overhaul fits a larger shift in Microsoft’s AI strategy. Reuters reported in July that Microsoft was reorganising Copilot under new leadership, while the company has also been preparing a broader “Super App” that would combine chat, coding, research and background agents. The practical effect for consumers, however, is immediate: some features are disappearing, some are moving behind Microsoft 365 Premium, and the free tier is becoming narrower just as competitors such as ChatGPT and Perplexity continue to offer research tools without a comparable paywall.
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