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Copilot

in English: Microsoft Copilot

Copilot is Microsoft's artificial intelligence assistant, integrated into Windows, the Edge browser, and Office programs to help write, summarize, search, and perform tasks.

In plain terms

Copilot means second pilot in English, and the name promises exactly this: you drive, and the machine sits beside you and helps. Microsoft labels almost all its AI assistants with this name, from the helpers appearing in Windows, Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams to the separate chat application.

Imagine it as an office intern sitting in every program you use. You ask it to summarize a long email exchange, draft a presentation, or explain the numbers in a spreadsheet, and within seconds it places a first version in front of you. You must review and approve it.

Compared to standalone chatbots, its advantage is that it works where you do, so you do not need to copy everything into a separate window. The corporate version accesses your emails, calendar, and documents according to your permissions, so it can also answer questions about your own work.

Copilot is actually a product family. There is a free version for individuals, a subscription-based office version (Microsoft 365 Copilot), GitHub Copilot for programmers, and standalone Copilot agents.

How it works

1. You type or speak your request in plain language, for example: 'summarize yesterday's meeting.'
2. The system finds the necessary background material for your request: the open document, in the corporate version the emails and files you have permission to access, and, if needed, fresh internet search results.
3. All this is passed to a large language model, which formulates the answer based on the request and the background material. Microsoft relies mainly on OpenAI's models, but it also uses models it has developed itself and models from other companies, such as Anthropic.
4. The answer appears where you work: as text in Word, as a formula in Excel, as a slide in PowerPoint, or as a draft email in Outlook.
5. Versions functioning as agents go further: they carry out multi-step tasks, such as gathering data, writing a report, and submitting it for approval.

An everyday example

Who is affected

A common misconception

Limits and risks

• It can be wrong and confidently state falsehoods, so always verify numbers, names, and references.
• The corporate version can retrieve anything you are authorized to access, so a misconfigured sharing setting could expose confidential files not intended for you.
• The full set of office capabilities is paid, and features may vary by language: not everything works as well in Hungarian as in English.
• You are responsible for the outcome: a letter, analysis, or code written by Copilot goes out under your name.

Similar, but not the same

• ChatGPT – ChatGPT is OpenAI's own chat application. Copilot is a Microsoft product, partly built on similar OpenAI models, and is integrated not only as a standalone app but also into Microsoft programs.
• GitHub Copilot – GitHub Copilot is a coding assistant built by GitHub, owned by Microsoft, specifically for programmers. Microsoft Copilot is a general-purpose assistant for office and everyday tasks.
• AI-agent – The basic Copilot responds to requests and suggests, while the agent acts independently in multiple steps based on a given goal.

Related concepts

A brief history

The name was first used by the GitHub Copilot coding assistant, which appeared as a preview in 2021 and became generally available in 2022. Microsoft launched the Bing Chat chatbot in February 2023 and renamed it Microsoft Copilot in November 2023. Also in 2023, it introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot, built into the Office apps, and Copilot was added to Windows the same year.

Where things stand

At the end of 2026, Copilot is a built-in part of Windows and Microsoft 365, and a significant share of large enterprises use or are testing it. The focus of development is shifting from simple chat to autonomous agents.

Status: 2026 November

In the news

• GitHub Copilot impact dashboard adds chat and VS Code agent usage, code review gets API controlsNov 6, 2026 · Code
• Xcode 27.3 adds GitHub Copilot to its built-in assistantNov 3, 2026 · Code
• Copilot Cowork generated 1,211 pull requests in a single dayNov 2, 2026 · Code
• GitHub Copilot Fusion picks models automatically; local preview runs only partly on-deviceNov 2, 2026 · Code
• GitHub Copilot Fusion mixes models to approach frontier coding performance at half the costOct 28, 2026 · Agent Age
• Copilot Studio's GitHub Copilot harness becomes the Microsoft Copilot harnessOct 28, 2026 · Code
• Verisk makes its insurance data available in Microsoft Copilot and Amazon QuickOct 28, 2026 · Money
• AWS Transform can be used in GitHub Copilot via MCP for .NET projectsOct 27, 2026 · Code

Also known as

Copilot · Microsoft Copilot · Microsoft 365 Copilot · M365 Copilot · Bing Chat · Copilot Chat · MS Copilot · copilot

Sources

• Wikipedia: Microsoft Copilot
• Microsoft Copilot – hivatalos oldal

This entry was machine-edited and has undergone machine expert review; the “In the news” section updates automatically from Agent Age stories.