Windows 10: Microsoft says Copilot's animated avatar is called Mico

GHacks · Oct 25, 2025 at 4:32 AM

Do you remember Microsoft Clippy? Now, say hello to its AI version, the blob. Err, its name is Mico.

You may have seen blobby, Mico, before. The AI avatar, or virtual character, whatever you want to call it, has been a part of Copilot Voice mode for a while. It's even available on Samsung TVs and monitors. Why the name? Why Mico? It's short for Microsoft Copilot. That's a little on the nose, but fair enough.

Microsoft has tried this before, with Cortana. It was supposed to be the cool "voice-based assistant". Except, Cortana was a disaster, barely anyone used it, and a lot of people hated it. Microsoft believes Copilot Voice will change things around. It says Copilot is the AI that listens, learns, and earns your trust. Perhaps Mico will help users engage more with the AI. That seems to be the plan, at least. It's all part of "the computer you can talk to" marketing strategy.

Mustafa Suleyman, CEO, Microsoft AI, describes Mico as an AI" companion that is personalized for users. It is expressive, customizable and warm. Well, it's not a teddy bear. Mico listens to you, animates, reacts, and changes colors to reflect your interactions. The Redmond company says this is meant to make voice conversations feel more natural.

Microsoft's VP of product and growth, Jacob Andreou, told The Verge, "Clippy walked so that we could run". If Copilot voice mode is on, Mico is turned on by default too. But you can turn it off if you don't like it. Since Mico is basically Copilot, it uses the memory feature of the AI, while interacting with you. It's also getting a Learn Live mode to explain things to the user, instead of just giving answers.

Here's a video demo of Mico.

It's cute, I'll give it that. Amusing, maybe? Is that enough reason to use an AI? Personally, I'd say no. But people have gotten attached to virtual characters like Tamagotchi, so who knows. Mico is only available in the U.S. currently.

What do you think about Mico? Is it going to be your AI buddy?

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Brink · Oct 25, 2025 at 4:41 AM

Microsoft 365 Copilot is coming to OneNote

We are thrilled to announce that the Microsoft 365 Copilot is coming to OneNote. This powerful tool combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with your data from the Microsoft Graph—notes, calendars, emails, chats, documents, meetings, and more—and the Microsoft 365 apps to turn your words into a powerful productivity tool. All of this is done within our existing commitments to data security and privacy in the enterprise. We know that too much time is spent on the mundane tasks of work and not enough time is spent on the work that brings us joy and ignites our creativity. That's why Copilot is being integrated directly into OneNote. It works with you, embedded in the other Microsoft 365 apps you use daily to help you unlock productivity, unleash creativity, and uplevel your skills.

An animated image demonstrating how to use Copilot to make a to-do list in OneNote. Copilot in OneNote Your digital notebook reimagined with Copilot. Copilot in OneNote helps you create, capture, organize, and recall information with confidence. As your notetaking partner, Copilot uses your prompts to draft plans, generate ideas, create lists, organize information, and more. Copilot can transform existing text by summarizing, rewriting, formatting, and adding visual context. Uplevel your digital notebook with natural language commands to reorganize your notebook, adjust formatting, and highlight what's important. Here are some example commands and prompts you can try:

Create a plan for my daughter’s high school graduation party.

Summarize notes into bullet points on a new page.

Generate a list of topics and talking points to be covered in an annual investor update meeting.

Plan a spring trip to Paris for me, my partner, and my two teenage children.

I'm starting a wholesale coffee bean and roasting company. Give me 10 suggestions for a company name and vision statement.

Building responsibly Microsoft 365 Copilot is designed for the needs of the enterprise. Our efforts are guided by our AI principles and Responsible AI Standard and build on decades of research on grounding and privacy-preserving machine learning. Microsoft’s work on AI is reviewed for potential harms and mitigations by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, engineers, and policy experts. We use the Azure Content Moderation Stack across our services to monitor and filter harmful content. Technologies like InterpretML and Fairlearn help to detect and correct data bias. The Copilot System builds on our existing commitments to data security and privacy in the enterprise. Copilot automatically inherits your organization’s security, compliance, and privacy policies for Microsoft 365. Data is managed in line with our current commitments. Copilot large language models are not trained on your tenant data. Finally, we have worked to design an experience that prioritizes human agency and puts the user in control. This includes noting limitations, providing links to sources, and prompting users to review, fact-check, and fine-tune content based on their own knowledge and judgment. Read about Microsoft 365 Copilot on our Official Microsoft Blog.
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Source: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/...t/ba-p/3788442

panchoman · Oct 25, 2025 at 4:41 AM

Animated Avatars

Should animated avatars be allowed?

for those that support animated avatars, heres what zek says:

Eh, everyone who wants an animated avatar should PM Urlyin asking for the privilege.
Click to expand...

I figure, if Urlyin sees a bunch of people want it, he might reconsider his opinion on animated avatars. After all...they don't do much harm, and create a lot of joy.
Click to expand...

for those of you that want animated avatars, dont forget to pm urlyin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

badrobot · Oct 25, 2025 at 4:41 AM

Avatars (Animated gif)

I don't wanna hi-jack Stephanie's thread so I created this thread for animated avatars.
@gregrocker , here is your request.

Hope this will do...

Creating animated avatar is easy. Anyone can do it online for FREE. The only tricky part is creating the individual layers that will be stitched together to create the animated effect. The other tricky part is making sure that the file size complies with the forum requirement to make it work. For that, I use Photoshop.

Anyone who wants to ride the animated avatar bandwagon, just give me a shout. I will only work on your existing avatar so you have to upload your own avatar first and then I will take care of the rest.

Cheers!

Windows 10: Microsoft says Copilot's animated avatar is called Mico

Microsoft says Copilot's animated avatar is called Mico

Microsoft says Copilot's animated avatar is called Mico

Microsoft says Copilot's animated avatar is called Mico

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