Microsoft kills off unsuccessful AI features while merging its separate Copilot apps

Two years ago, Microsoft described AI as a “generational shift” in technology that it wanted to lead. Today, the company is merging its Copilot-branded consumer and business apps, and ditching a number of unsuccessful AI features.

As initially reported by GeekWire and detailed in Microsoft’s support documentation, the tech giant will combine the functionality of its consumer-facing Copilot app and the more business-oriented Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

The move is both an acknowledgement that personal and professional uses of AI often overlap, and that Microsoft’s prior strategy was too complicated to make Copilot a viable competitor to the likes of ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

It also follows a broader consolidation in the AI app space that has seen Claude merging Cowork into Chat; OpenAI merging its agentic feature Operator into ChatGPT; and Google adding specialized capabilities to its Gemini app, like the combination of deep research and web browsing.

According to Microsoft, consumers will lose access to Group Chats, AI-generated podcasts in Copilot, Copilot Labs experimental features, and Deep Research, by August 18, 2026. For paying professional users, Researcher will offer a replacement for the latter, at least.

Copilot will also ditch its goofy animated character for Copilot, named Mico, a floating blob that felt like an AI-ified version of Clippy. Other features may temporarily disappear during the transition, Microsoft warns, and files generated by the stand-alone Copilot app will be migrated to OneDrive.

While the company says the goal is to make Copilot a “simpler, more cohesive experience,” it’s also an admission that Copilot has lost its way. In July, The Information reported that Microsoft EVP Jacob Andreou, who oversees Copilot, said in an internal memo that the app needed to earn “the right to exist” in its customers’ lives, which required moving on from features that didn’t work.