What you need to know
- Microsoft just released its "Game Day" commercial for Copilot on YouTube.
- The ad demonstrates Copilot on the web and smartphones helping perform tasks such as coding, generating images, and quizzing someone to help with studying.
- Marketing material is not allowed to use the term "Super Bowl," which is why companies like Microsoft use phrases like "big game" and "game day."
A new commercial from Microsoft shows "your everyday AI companion," Copilot. The ad showcases many ways that people can use Copilot, including writing scripts, generating images, and creating quizzes. People in the video use Copilot on the web and smartphones, which helps show that Copilot is not limited to Windows or Microsoft hardware. That point is reiterated in the closing tag, which reads "Anyone. Anywhere. Any device."
While the title of the video does not state it outright, this is Microsoft's Super Bowl ad. Companies aren't allowed to use the term "Super Bowl" in marketing material, so you often see promotions with terms like "big game" and "game day" this time of year. But this is a news piece, not marketing, so I can say that the video is Microsoft's Super Bowl ad.
The Super Bowl is one of the most-watched events in the world in any given year. An estimated 113.6 million people watched last year's Super Bowl, according to Nielsen. Figures vary each year, but it's normal to see more than 100 million people tune into the big game. Taylor Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce playing in the Super Bowl for the Kansas City Chiefs could boost ratings as well. Microsoft's ad should get its new AI companion in front of the eyes of millions during the game.
What is Copilot?
While frequent readers of Windows Central and tech enthusiasts know about Copilot, it isn't a household name yet. The technology is versatile and powerful, but people are still learning what you can do with it. The Today Show previewed the commercial and one of the hosts said, "I don't know exactly what it is, but it looks cool." I imagine several people are in the same boat.
Another host joked that Microsoft's ad was "actually one of the first commercials ever co-directed by AI." He clarified that wasn't actually the case, but the fact that people believed him indicates that people believe AI can be useful.
Copilot is an AI-powered assistant made by Microsoft. While in preview, the tool was known as Bing Chat for several months, but Microsoft moved away from its Bing branding when it comes to Copilot and other AI tools — notice how Bing is not mentioned once in the Super Bowl ad.
Copilot uses data that it's been trained on for years and real-time information from the web to help you with a variety of tasks. It can answer questions, help you with writing, and create images. Developers can also use Copilot to code. Microsoft steadily expands the capabilities of Copilot and is working on integrating AI into all of its apps and services.
The base version of Copilot is free, but you have to pay extra to get more powerful features, such as Copilot for Teams or Copilot for Microsoft's Office applications. I explained the differences between Copilot, Copilot Pro, and Copilot for Microsoft 365 in a recent post about the latter coming to Windows desktops.
Copilot update
To coincide with its big commercial, Copilot is also receiving an update. Here's what new for the AI companion, as shared with us by Microsoft:
- A new streamlined look and feel that will help people more easily follow the flow of their chats.
- With Designer in Copilot, you can customize your generated images with inline editing right inside Copilot.
- For Copilot Pro subscribers, reimagine your images with different effects like Pixel art, resize between square and landscape, make an object color pop, or blur the background.
- Built-in Designer GPT inside Copilot will roll out soon, offering an immersive, dedicated canvas inside of Copilot where you can visualize your ideas.
- Free to use on Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari or available on mobile for iOS and Android.
The new additions and expansion of availability should make it easier for anyone intrigued by the ad to get the most out of Copilot.
