Microsoft has begun rolling out an update to Copilot on Windows that enables the AI assistant to connect directly with OneDrive, Outlook, Google Drive, Gmail, and other personal productivity apps. The upgrade allows users to prompt Copilot in natural language to retrieve and analyze information from their connected accounts, while also introducing the ability to create and export documents through simple voice commands.
What you should know: The new connector features are opt-in only and currently available exclusively to Microsoft’s Copilot “Insider” program members.
- Users can grant Copilot access by opening settings, clicking “Connectors,” and selecting which services they want the system to interact with.
- The AI can now summarize work project timelines sent via email, search through messages automatically, and pull information from cloud storage services.
- Microsoft notes that enabling these connections means sharing more personal data with Copilot.
Key capabilities: Copilot can now create and export Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDFs, and PowerPoint presentations through natural language instructions.
- “With just a prompt, you can instantly turn ideas, notes, and data into shareable and editable documents with no extra steps or tools required,” Microsoft explained in a company blog post.
- For example, users can ask Copilot to create a day-by-day travel itinerary and then prompt it to upload the schedule into a PowerPoint presentation for sharing.
- The feature eliminates the need for manual document creation and formatting.
The big picture: Microsoft is aggressively expanding its AI offerings by integrating them directly with productivity apps that are already central to users’ daily workflows.
- The move comes as competitors like Perplexity, an AI search company, have launched similar email assistant features that can surface information from Gmail and Outlook accounts.
- Microsoft has been distancing itself from its reliance on OpenAI by recently partnering with Anthropic, an AI startup, to embed the company’s AI systems across its Microsoft 365 suite.
- Anthropic’s Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus 4.1 are now accessible through Copilot Studio, Microsoft’s platform for designing custom AI agents.
Competitive landscape: The productivity AI space is heating up as major players stake out their territories.
- OpenAI is reportedly developing its own workplace productivity platform to compete directly with Microsoft Office 365 and Google Drive.
- Microsoft’s connector approach positions Copilot as a universal assistant that can work across different platforms, rather than being limited to Microsoft’s ecosystem.
- The gradual rollout to Insider program members suggests Microsoft is taking a cautious approach to ensure stability before wider deployment.
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