Enhancing the basic research capabilities of Microsoft Copilot may not seem as thrilling as transforming it into an overly personalized companion, but it’s undeniably valuable as a research tool. During Microsoft’s 50th anniversary celebration, the company showcased significant updates to Copilot, including the introduction of Copilot Vision for Windows and a more intuitive assistant. Alongside these enhancements, Microsoft is also refining Copilot’s knowledge functionalities with features such as Copilot Search, Deep Research, podcasts, and Pages. The podcasts and Pages features bear resemblance to offerings from competitors.
For example, Google recently revealed a hidden capability that allows users to upload documents on specific topics. Google’s AI then generates engaging podcasts based on that content. Microsoft’s approach appears to be quite similar, aiming to provide users with rich audio content based on their uploads. The Pages feature also feels familiar, as Google has a similar function that lets users upload content for collaborative work.
However, Microsoft claims that Pages is designed to provide a more comprehensive solution, synthesizing various research materials into draft documents. Additionally, Microsoft is enabling Microsoft 365 users to create Research agents that pull information from corporate repositories, enhancing the relevance and specificity of the insights provided. However, it’s worth noting that the Deep Research feature is not unique to Microsoft, as both ChatGPT and Google Gemini have similar capabilities. Deep Research can process multiple web pages over several minutes, producing synthesized reports that are generally more accurate due to the use of real-time online content.
Copilot Search operates in a similar vein but emphasizes speed and factual information, highlighting its role against emerging AI-powered search engines like Anthropic. Microsoft has begun rolling out these new features today, although a formal roadmap has yet to be released, suggesting variability based on geography, language, and feature availability.