Microsoft is getting ready for GPT-5 with a new Copilot smart mode

• Microsoft’s AI CEO thinks Copilot will age and “have a room that it lives in.” Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman has been discussing the idea of Copilot aging and being personalized enough that it has its own virtual room to live in. At the same time, Microsoft has just launched a new Copilot Appearance virtual character feature that responds to queries with real-time expressions. It sounds like Microsoft wants to make an AI version of a Tamagotchi. I wonder if we’ll have to feed Copilot a loaf of bread or a piece of candy to keep it happy?
• Windows 10 is now 10 years old. Windows 10 turned 10 years old this week, making me feel older than ever before. I remember live blogging the Windows 10 announcement solo, frantically taking photos and furiously typing up all the new features during an event that wasn’t livestreamed. A decade later and most of Microsoft’s new Windows features are AI-related and feel a lot less exciting than how Microsoft built Windows 10. Nevertheless, Windows 10 introduced the idea of “Windows as a service,” a model that delivers regular updates to Windows instead of big releases every few years. That still exists in Windows 11 today, as Microsoft continues to try and tempt Windows 10 users to upgrade ahead of the end-of-support cutoff in October.
• Microsoft has uncovered a macOS Spotlight security flaw. Security researchers at Microsoft notified Apple of a flaw in macOS earlier this year that could have allowed attackers to access files in a device’s downloads folder and data cached by Apple Intelligence. Apple patched the flaw in March, and Microsoft revealed the full details earlier this week.
• Xbox will let you play Silksong at Gamescom in August. I’m heading to Cologne, Germany, next month to play with the new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds and get a first hands-on with the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong. The new Xbox Ally handhelds will be on display at the Xbox booth at Gamescom, and Microsoft is promising “a couple more surprises at the show from our partners too.”
• Microsoft Edge transforms into an AI browser with new Copilot Mode. Microsoft has launched an experimental Copilot Mode for its Edge browser this week that allows the AI assistant to search all your open tabs and handle tasks like booking a restaurant. Copilot Mode is somewhere between the limited Gemini integration that Google is testing in Chrome and the AI-powered overhaul that Comet offers with its AI browser. It’s an optional feature you have to manually enable right now, and Microsoft mentions that it’s “free for a limited time,” so it’s unlikely that Copilot Mode will be turned on as default for all Edge users anytime soon.
• Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature is now blocked by Brave and AdGuard. Signal kicked off a trend of blocking Recall earlier this year, and now AdGuard and the Brave browser are also blocking the Windows AI feature. AdGuard calls Recall a “privacy concern,” and Brave is also concerned about the privacy implications. Brave and AdGuard, much like Signal, are enabling this block by default for Copilot Plus PC owners.
• Microsoft chief seeks to reassure employees in layoffs memo. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella didn’t send a company-wide memo when Microsoft laid off as many as 9,000 employees earlier this month, but he finally got around to emailing employees last week. While Nadella expressed gratitude for affected employees, he didn’t guarantee there won’t be more layoffs in the near future and noted that Microsoft’s headcount is “relatively unchanged” despite the cuts. I don’t think this memo has reassured most Microsoft employees, and, in fact, it makes it clearer than ever that employees must adapt to Microsoft’s AI transformation and platform shift or risk being part of the next wave of layoffs.
• Microsoft starts rolling out Xbox age verification in the UK. Microsoft is starting to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act by prompting Xbox players to verify their age. While age verification in the UK is optional right now, it will be required early next year to “retain full access to social features on Xbox, such as voice or text communication and game invites.” Microsoft says it’s also exploring bringing similar age verification tools to other countries in the future.
• Microsoft nears OpenAI agreement for ongoing tech access. Microsoft is reportedly close to finalizing a deal to keep access to OpenAI’s models even if the startup reaches its goal of building artificial general intelligence (AGI). Microsoft’s current contract with OpenAI means it loses access to models if OpenAI reaches AGI, and the pair have been negotiating a new deal for months now.
• Xbox loses its chief sustainability officer. After four years at Xbox, Trista Patterson, Microsoft’s director of sustainability for Xbox hardware, is leaving the company. Patterson was a high-profile hire from the United Nations and was working toward Microsoft’s bold claim that it will be carbon negative by 2030. Microsoft is now hiring Patterson’s replacement, just as Microsoft’s AI obsession is jeopardizing its climate ambitions.
• Now everyone can stream their own games in the Xbox PC app. All Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can now stream more than 250 games they own, including some Xbox console-only titles, from the cloud to the Xbox PC app. It’s part of Microsoft’s push to make Xbox games more accessible on PC, as well as its cross-device play history feature that’s arriving on console and PC soon.
• OneNote is finally getting a paste without formatting feature. Microsoft is adding a paste-text-only shortcut to OneNote soon, so that colors, styling, or font choices aren’t copied over when you paste text into the note-taking app. You’ll also be able to merge table cells soon, another highly requested feature. Both of these updates are available to Microsoft 365 Insiders right now, so they should start rolling out to all OneNote users in the coming months.
• Opera is filing a complaint over Microsoft’s tricks that push you to use Edge. Microsoft has used a variety of tricks to convince people to keep using the defaults of Bing and Microsoft Edge in Windows over the years, and now Opera is fed up. In a new complaint filed with Brazil’s competition authority, Opera accuses Microsoft of using “manipulative design tactics” to thwart browser competition. Opera was behind the EU complaint that eventually led to Microsoft’s browser ballot screen in Windows more than 15 years ago, so it will be interesting to see if it can convince regulators that Microsoft’s nag screens are anti-competitive.
• Microsoft has a Surface Laptop ‘Smurface Edition’ for Smurfs fans. Microsoft rarely does limited editions of its Surface products, but it has quietly launched a “Smurface Edition” in time for the Smurfs movie. I was expecting it to be a totally blue design, but instead Microsoft has laser-etched the Smurfs to the front, alongside a blue Surface logo. It’s a 13-inch Surface Laptop 7, but only 100 units are available exclusively at Amazon.

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• Tom Warren