Artificial Intelligence
Microsoft launches Copilot app with chat, coding and agents
Microsoft unveiled a redesigned Copilot app that brought chat, coding and agent functions into one interface, renamed Scout as Autopilot, and tied more of the experience to usage-based billing.
- Microsoft unveiled the redesigned Copilot app on 25 September 2026.
- The app combined chat, coding and agent functions, and Microsoft renamed Scout as Autopilot.
- Microsoft said usage-based billing would apply to Cowork, Code and Autopilot, while the standard Copilot licence would still cover chat and use in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams.
- Code would preview for Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers later in the year, and Autopilot would enter private preview later that month.
Microsoft unveiled a redesigned Copilot app after teasing it the previous month. It also changed the name of Scout, the assistant it had shown earlier this year, to Autopilot.
The app was divided into Home, Code and Autopilot tabs. Home combined Copilot Chat and Cowork, served as the default starting point, and was set to add a Today panel for emails, meeting requests and Teams threads.
Code let users build apps, trackers, dashboards and automations, then share them as cloud-hosted internal tools. Jared Spataro said it used the same base technology as GitHub Copilot and ran in a sandbox inside the customer tenant.
Autopilot was described by Spataro as a cloud assistant with its own computer, identity, memory and workspace. Microsoft said it would live in the tenant with permissions, audit and governance, while billing for Cowork, Code and Autopilot would depend on usage and the normal licence would still cover chat and use in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams.
Satya Nadella said on X that Copilot would act as a work operating system. Microsoft compared the launch with the influence its earlier suite had on PC productivity, while the article said the company was still trying to close a gap with stronger rivals in the AI market.
Named in this story
People
- Jared Spataro
- Microsoft’s chief marketing officer of AI at work, who described the features
- Satya Nadella
- Microsoft’s chief executive, who framed Copilot on X
Companies
- Microsoft
- unveiled the redesigned Copilot app and set its billing model
Products and systems
- Copilot
- the AI app that was redesigned around chat, coding and agents
- Scout
- the earlier assistant that Microsoft renamed Autopilot
- Autopilot
- the cloud assistant added to the Copilot app
- Home
- the first tab in the new Copilot interface
- Code
- the tab for building apps, trackers and automations
- Cowork
- one of the Copilot capabilities covered by usage-based billing
- Teams
- the collaboration app where Copilot and Autopilot could appear
- Outlook
- the email app included in the standard Copilot licence
- Word
- one of the apps covered by the standard Copilot licence
- Excel
- one of the apps covered by the standard Copilot licence
- PowerPoint
- one of the apps covered by the standard Copilot licence
- GitHub Copilot
- the technology Microsoft said underpinned Code
- Microsoft IQ
- the Microsoft system Autopilot was built on
- FinOps for AI
- the admin tool for managing AI spend
- Microsoft 365 Premium
- the subscription tier that would preview Code
- Astra
- one of the models Microsoft said would be billed by usage
- Fable
- one of the models Microsoft said would be billed by usage
How the source tells it
The article used a promotional trade-news register, with Microsoft’s own language and comparisons doing most of the work, though the writer added a sceptical market note at the end.
- vendor boosterism Microsoft’s product claims and comparisons to its older suite were repeated as the main framing
- hype the 'super app' label and work-OS comparison inflated a product launch into a bigger turning point
- competitive urgency the piece framed the release as part of Microsoft’s effort to regain ground with business buyers