If you are in the Windows ecosystem, Microsoft Copilot has become basically unavoidable. To the chagrin of those who have made “how to disable Copilot” an SEO hit, Microsoft is continuing to integrate the AI assistant into its products. The latest expansion of the AI’s reach is the introduction of Copilot Checkout, a feature that allows users to purchase items directly within a Copilot conversation without getting sent to an external website.
Per Microsoft, Copilot Checkout will allow users to have a conversation with Copilot about products and make a decision to purchase right from the chat. When they decide to buy, an AI agent powered by Copilot navigates to the retailer and completes the transaction for them. Copilot Checkout, which will be available through Copilot.com, will start with partnerships with Etsy, PayPal, Shopify, and Stripe. Microsoft says it’ll ramp up available retailers this month.
Retailers who operate using PayPal or Stripe can apply to become an eligible Copilot Checkout merchant, but Shopify sellers will automatically be enrolled in the program and have to manually opt out if they don’t want to participate—making it just one more way that Copilot feels inescapable.
It’s no surprise that Microsoft is getting in on the automated transactions game. It’s been the go-to for the AI industry as a way to show off agentic features, which allow AI models to act autonomously to complete tasks on behalf of the user. OpenAI rolled out a similar feature last fall called Instant Checkout, which allows ChatGPT to make purchases from select retailers, including those on Etsy and Shopify. The appeal is pretty simple for everyone involved: Microsoft and OpenAI take a cut of transactions sent to a seller through their respective chatbots, and retailers presumably expect additional traffic, though there isn’t much information on just how popular these AI agents with access to a user’s wallet have been thus far.
But more than anything, the new feature is just a reminder of how badly Microsoft wants users hooked on Copilot. The AI assistant is integrated into just about everything bearing the Microsoft name at this point: Fire up Windows 11 or open up Edge, Bing, or the Microsoft 365 suite, and you’ll find the Copilot logo staring back at you. It’s gotten so bad that people thought Microsoft was rebranding Microsoft 365 to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Privacy-focused company Proton, which has a guide on getting rid of Copilot, notes that “Only Microsoft 365 enterprise users and IT administrators can fully remove Copilot from Windows 11. In all other cases — such as users with personal or family subscriptions, or no Microsoft 365 subscription at all — there are only ways to limit its features and tone down its visibility.” The problem has even made its way outside of the Microsoft ecosystem. Last month, LG TV owners were surprised to find that after updating their TV, they had an unremovable shortcut to open Copilot on their homescreen—an issue that received enough outcry that LG eventually gave users the option to get rid of it.
Microsoft wants Copilot to be your copilot for everything, whether you want it or not.
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