All news with #microsoft copilot tag

🔧 Microsoft is testing a new Group Policy, RemoveMicrosoftCopilotApp, that enables IT administrators to uninstall the AI-powered Copilot app on managed Windows devices. The policy began rolling out in the Dev and Beta Insider channels with Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7535 (KB5072046) and applies to endpoints managed via Microsoft Intune or SCCM. It targets systems where both Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot are installed, the app was not user-installed, and it hasn't been launched in the last 28 days. Admins can enable the setting at User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows AI -> Remove Microsoft Copilot App; users may still reinstall if they choose.

🛡️ The growing use of generative AI in the workplace is raising security concerns as many employees access tools via personal accounts. Netskope's 2026 Cloud and Threat Report found 47% of workplace generative AI usage occurs through personal ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot accounts, reducing visibility and controls. Reported data-policy violations tied to LLMs have doubled, averaging 223 incidents per month and involving sensitive source code, intellectual property and credentials. Organizations are starting to curb Shadow AI use, but the report warns that stronger governance and employee education remain essential.

🔍 Microsoft pushed back after security engineer John Russell disclosed multiple prompt injection and sandbox-related issues in Copilot, which the company says do not meet its vulnerability criteria. Russell reported indirect and direct prompt injection that could leak the system prompt, a file-upload bypass via base64-encoding, and the execution of commands inside Copilot's isolated Linux environment. Microsoft told BleepingComputer it reviewed the reports against its public bug bar and assessed them as out of scope when they did not cross clear security boundaries or impacted only the requesting user's environment. The exchange highlights differing definitions of AI risk between vendors and researchers.

🚀 Microsoft is rolling out GPT-5.2 to Copilot on web, Windows, and mobile as a free upgrade that will coexist with the existing GPT-5.1 model. The new option appears as a 'Smart Plus' mode and uses a 'Thinking' variant designed for more complex, multi-step tasks. OpenAI positions GPT-5.2 as its strongest model family yet, improving productivity for spreadsheets, presentations, coding, document understanding, image work, and tool use.

⚠️Microsoft is mitigating an incident that has blocked or degraded access to its AI-powered Copilot service for users in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe. The company says telemetry points to an unexpected traffic surge that prevented service autoscaling, and engineers are manually scaling capacity to restore availability. A related admin-facing issue is also affecting some Microsoft Defender for Endpoint features.

🚀 At Microsoft Ignite 2025, Microsoft unveiled a suite of Azure infrastructure and AI operational innovations built for scale, reliability, and security. Azure Copilot introduces an agentic operations model with six specialized agents—migration, deployment, optimization, observability, resiliency, and troubleshooting—designed to automate routine cloud management while enforcing RBAC and policy. The release also highlights new AI datacenter architecture (Fairwater), deployment of NVIDIA GB300 GPUs at scale, and platform improvements like Azure Boost and AKS Automatic to accelerate performance and reduce operational overhead.

🛡️ Microsoft is including Security Copilot agents in Microsoft 365 E5, embedding AI-driven assistants across Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview to accelerate investigations and automate routine tasks. The rollout begins today for existing Security Copilot customers on E5 and will expand to all E5 tenants in the coming months with a 30-day notification. The announcement adds 12 Microsoft-built preview agents, 30+ partner agents, and support for customer-built agents to tailor workflows.

🖥️ Windows 11 Build 26220.7051 introduces a taskbar-based Ask Copilot, allowing testers to query the web, local files, and AI using text or voice. The feature is optional and can be enabled under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar; Microsoft says it may eventually replace the existing Windows Search UI. The update also rolls out a full-screen Xbox handheld experience, a Bluetooth LE-based "Shared audio" preview to stream audio to two devices, and improved x64 emulation support to boost ARM PC performance.

🗞️ Windows 11 Build 26220.7051 is rolling out to Insiders and introduces three headline features: a taskbar-based Ask Copilot, a new full-screen Xbox experience for handhelds, and Bluetooth Shared audio. Ask Copilot lets users search the internet, local files, and AI using text or voice and can be enabled via Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Ask Copilot. The new full-screen experience (FSE) aims to prioritize gaming on compatible handheld devices and can be set under Settings > Gaming > Full screen experience. Additionally, Windows now supports sharing audio to two Bluetooth devices and improves ARM PC performance by expanding x64 emulation support.

🤖 Microsoft is extending Copilot functionality across its Microsoft 365 companion apps, with People and Files already supported and Calendar due in the coming weeks. These taskbar mini-apps—available only to enterprise and business Microsoft 365 customers—surface contextual info like contact details, org-wide search and OneDrive file results. Microsoft says Copilot now offers instant suggestions such as recaps, flagged comments, and updates from top collaborators, and supports seamless handoff to the full Microsoft 365 Copilot app for deeper inquiries. There is no indication that Copilot can be disabled within these companion apps.

🤖 Microsoft introduced two new Microsoft 365 Copilot agents, App Builder and Workflows, to help employees create apps and automate tasks using their Microsoft 365 data. Users can describe requirements in natural language and Copilot will generate interactive elements or automated flows across Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Planner and other services. Outputs are integrated with the Copilot experience and protected by enterprise-grade security and role-based access controls. App Builder will be added to the Agent Store this week, while Workflows is already available to customers enrolled in the Frontier program.

📝 The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has sued Microsoft, alleging it misled 2.7 million Australian Microsoft 365 subscribers when integrating Copilot by obscuring the option to remain on existing plans at the same price. The ACCC says renewal communications presented the AI‑enabled tiers as the apparent way to keep service active while the choice to stay was only visible via the cancellation flow. The complaint alleges breaches of multiple Australian Consumer Law provisions and seeks civil penalties, injunctions, and consumer compensation. Microsoft says it is reviewing the ACCC's claim and will cooperate with the regulator.

🔐 Microsoft has patched an indirect prompt injection vulnerability in Microsoft 365 Copilot that could have been exploited to exfiltrate recent enterprise emails via clickable Mermaid diagrams. Researcher Adam Logue demonstrated a multi-stage attack using Office documents containing hidden white-text instructions that caused Copilot to invoke an internal search-enterprise_emails tool. The assistant encoded retrieved emails into hex, embedded them in Mermaid output styled as a login button, and added an attacker-controlled hyperlink. Microsoft mitigated the risk by disabling interactive hyperlinks in Mermaid diagrams within Copilot chats.

🔐 Datadog Security Labs has described a new phishing technique called CoPhish that abuses Copilot Studio agents to present fraudulent OAuth consent requests on legitimate Microsoft-hosted demo pages. Attackers can configure an agent’s Login topic to deliver a malicious sign-in button that redirects to a hostile application and exfiltrates session tokens. Microsoft confirmed it will address the underlying causes in a future update and recommends governance and consent hardening to reduce exposure.

🤖 Microsoft today introduced Mico, a new avatar for its AI-powered Copilot designed to feel more personal, supportive, and empathetic. The optional visual presence listens, adapts its expressions and color to interactions, and will respectfully push back when presented with incorrect information. The Copilot Fall Release also adds features such as Copilot Groups for up to 32 collaborators, long-term memory, Deep Research Proactive Actions, and a Learn Live voice-enabled tutor. These updates begin rolling out in the United States with broader regional availability planned.

🤖 Microsoft has added the "Hey Copilot" wake word to Windows 11, letting users initiate conversations with the AI-powered Copilot assistant hands-free. The feature is opt-in and must be enabled in the Copilot app's Settings under Voice mode; when active a chime sounds and a microphone icon appears above the taskbar. Wake word detection uses an on-device 10-second audio buffer stored locally and never recorded, while request processing requires internet access. Copilot Vision can analyze screen content for troubleshooting and guidance, and optional connectors let Copilot generate Office documents and access third-party accounts.

🖥️ Microsoft has updated Copilot on Windows to let users link Outlook and Gmail accounts, plus Google Drive, Calendar, and Contacts, and to generate and export Office files directly from prompts. The change is rolling out to Windows Insiders via the Microsoft Store for devices running Copilot version 1.25095.161.0 or later and must be enabled manually in the app's Connectors settings. Responses longer than 600 characters now include an export button to save content as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or PDF files. Microsoft asked testers to provide feedback from within the Copilot app.

🔧 Microsoft is investigating a bug that prevents the Copilot pane and other WebView2-dependent features from launching when multiple Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher, Access) run concurrently. The issue occurs when one app initializes a WebView2 instance and a second app attempts to start another; closing the first app allows the pane to open normally. The Office team is working on a resolution and will provide updates when available.

📌 Microsoft will automatically install the Microsoft 365 companion apps on Windows 11 devices that have the Microsoft 365 desktop apps, beginning in late October 2025 and completing by the end of December 2025. The suite — People, Files, and Calendar — integrates Copilot for contextual AI assistance from the taskbar. IT admins can opt out via the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center or disable app auto‑launch in each app's Settings.

🔒 Microsoft announced the general availability of the Sentinel data lake and public previews of Sentinel Graph and the Sentinel Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. The release broadens Sentinel from a traditional SIEM into a unified, agentic security platform designed to ingest and correlate structured and semi-structured signals at scale. It is intended to give AI agents such as Security Copilot and developer tools in VS Code with GitHub Copilot richer contextual access for detection, retroactive hunting, and automated response while integrating with Defender and Purview.