Microsoft’s Clippy-like Mico character is no longer the face of Copilot

Microsoft Copilot will no longer show its emotive yellow blob, Mico, when you use the chatbot’s voice mode. In a support page, Microsoft says it’s going to move Mico to its Learn Live platform, where the avatar will have “more to react to,” as reported earlier by GeekWire. Mico launched in Copilot’s voice mode last October, with Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman pitching the avatar as a way to give the chatbot an “identity.” The blob would react to what you say in real-time, complete with facial expressions and animations. [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZfJ0OXVDPE] Mico joins the long list of virtual helpers that Microsoft has retired over the years, like Clippy, Cortana, and Rover. “Mico helped us learn about warmth, expressiveness, and how people want to talk with AI,” Microsoft’s support page says. “Those learnings are shaping Copilot going forward.” Microsoft is removing Mico from Copilot “in waves.” The change is part of Microsoft’s plans to merge its Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot apps. It also comes just months after an AI reshuffling that put Jacob Andreou in charge of Copilot, while Suleyman turned his attention to developing new AI models.