12 New Copilot Features: From Clippy to Miko for a Warmer Experience

12 new Copilot features herald Microsoft's shift toward a more human-like AI, led by the Miku voice character, which adds warmth and interactivity to the smart assistant experience.

The update paves the way for a new era that combines personalization and productivity through long-term memory, team collaboration, and integration with Microsoft and Google services, while emphasizing privacy and full user control.

With this addition, Microsoft moves from the legacy of Clippy and Cortana to a smart everyday companion that enhances learning, working, and communicating in a natural and seamless way.

Microsoft's Journey to Humane AI: From Clippy to Miko Microsoft's history with intelligent assistants dates back to Clippy, the iconic character from the 1990s Office series, who became a symbol of annoying AI due to her uninvited intrusions.

After decades, the company attempted a revival with Cortana in 2014, but gradually withdrew due to competition from Alexa and Siri.

Now, with Copilot, launching in 2023, the company aims to integrate AI into its Microsoft 365, Windows, and Edge ecosystem.

Today's announcement, featuring Microsoft's chief AI officer Mustafa Suleyman, comes at a crucial time, as AI faces criticism for its lack of humanity and is sometimes described as sycophantic.

"Copilot is designed to be empathetic and supportive, not just a tool that obeys commands," Suleiman emphasized. The update is part of a strategy to put AI "at the service of people," with an emphasis on privacy and control. Users can view and delete what Copilot remembers about them via voice conversations.

Miko: The New Face of Copilot The most notable feature is Miku, an optional voice character inspired by Microsoft Copilot, who is just a voice; she's a moving visual image that appears as an abstract ball floating on the screen during voice conversations.

Its colors, shapes, and expressions change to reflect interaction: it enjoys in a calming blue, thinks in a shimmering green, and expresses joy with an animated smile. The design aims to reduce the awkwardness of talking to the device, the company said.

Miku is available by default in voice mode, but can be turned off if she gets annoying, and in a playful nod to Clippy, if you tap her enough times, she turns into the classic Clippy, which adds a nostalgic touch.

Sulaiman describes it as "expressive, customizable, and warm," and supports a "real talk mode," which gently challenges the user's assumptions to encourage growth, while adapting the tone to the user's style.

This feature is available in the Copilot app on iOS and Android in the US, and will be expanded soon.

In an educational context, Miko transforms into a teacher, delivering interactive lessons with questions, visual cues, and virtual boards.

For example, if you're teaching history, Miko might draw an animated timeline or show illustrations during the audio explanation.

This makes Copilot a strong competitor to tools like Khan Academy AI or Duolingo, especially with its future-proof support for dynamic visual content.

12 New Copilot Features: From Collaboration to Long-Term Memories The new update includes 12 features focused on collaboration, personalization, and integration:

Groups: Copilot turns into a collaborative experience, inviting up to 32 people to plan, co-write, or study. It summarizes threads, suggests options, tallies votes, and divides tasks, making it suitable for teams or group study. Real Conversations: A model that gently challenges ideas, adapts to your style, and stimulates growth. It's a dialogue that builds trust, not just answers. Long-term memory: Copilot stores your thoughts and tasks as a second brain, and can display a list of what it remembers and scan it audio-recorded, ensuring privacy. Links: Connects services like OneDrive, Outlook, Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar, allowing you to retrieve personal data for personalized answers. AI Navigation: Creates journeys for continuous browsing, and actions for multi-step tasks like bookings or filling out forms, with explicit confirmation. Advanced Search: Combines web results and AI answers for a seamless experience. Live Learning: A socratic voice teacher uses questions and interactive panels to explain concepts. Deep Search: Provides proactive insights based on your recent activity, with next step suggestions. Proactive Actions: Helps manage tasks automatically, such as reminders or updates. Enhanced Health: Connects to trusted sources of health advice, with “Find Care,” to find nearby doctors based on preferences: language, gender, and specialty. Custom alerts: To keep track of auctions or events related to your interests. New Interface: Updated design makes interaction smoother across platforms. These features are available across the Copilot app, Edge, and Windows 11, with support for games in Copilot Entertainment.

Impact on Users and Businesses: From Personal to Professional For regular users, the update makes Copilot an everyday companion: imagine Miko helping a child study with fun questions, or a group of friends planning a trip through groups.

In education, Learn Live can bridge the digital divide, especially in developing countries where access to smart education is only 60%.

In healthcare, Find Care saves time, especially in the United States, where 28% of the population struggles to find suitable caregivers.

For business, the update boosts productivity in Microsoft 365. Connectors integrate external data, saving hours, while Real Talk enhances meetings with constructive challenges.

According to a Microsoft report, Copilot can increase productivity by 29% in creative tasks, and the version also supports integration with Google tools, making it more comprehensive for multi-platform businesses.

Copilot Launches 12 New Features: Competing with Google and OpenAI This announcement comes at a time of intense competition; Google launched Gemini 2.0 in September 2025 with similar voice features, while OpenAI introduced GPT Voice with multiple personalities in August.

Microsoft's focus on human warmth, as opposed to the technical focus of its competitors, distinguishes it.

However, the challenge of privacy remains: Microsoft asserts complete control, but data leak concerns persist, especially after the 2024 incidents.

On the market, MSFT shares rose 0.5% to $420, buoyed by Copilot's revenue forecast of $10 billion by 2026.

Challenges and Future Prospects: Towards a Really Smart Companion

Despite all the innovations, the update faces some challenges. Some users may find Miku annoying, just like the old Clippy character, and the long-term memory feature requires strict privacy protection standards.

Also, the initial availability in the US raises questions about user access in other regions, especially the Middle East , where AI usage is estimated at 45%.

But the future looks promising, with Mustafa Suleiman describing the update as an important step toward creating a smart companion that connects to the user's information and tools.

With deep integration expected with Windows 12 in 2026, Copilot could become the heart of an integrated intelligent system, emphasizing that artificial intelligence should enhance, rather than replace, the human side.