FlagThis AI

Microsoft is renaming Microsoft 365 Copilot, causing confusion with its capabilities of accessing Microsoft 365 data. Microsoft has introduced a new taskbar UI and keyboard shortcut for Copilot on Windows. Also, Microsoft is advancing its AI capabilities by moving to GraphRAG 1.0. These updates reflect Microsoft’s commitment to integrating AI across its platforms.

Microsoft’s new AI feature ‘Recall’ for Copilot+ PCs stores screenshots of sensitive data, including credit cards and social security numbers, even when a ‘sensitive information’ filter is enabled. This has raised serious privacy and security concerns among users. This feature takes continuous screenshots of everything a user does. The data is stored locally but sent off to Microsoft’s LLM for analysis. This has prompted an investigation by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. This incident highlights the potential risks of AI-powered surveillance features and the importance of user privacy.

Microsoft has launched Copilot Vision, which allows AI to see and interact with users’ online activity. This feature enables Copilot to browse the internet with users, providing contextual assistance and enhancing the interactive experience. This is one of the new multimodal capabilities which is now available as a preview.

Microsoft has significantly enhanced its Fabric data analytics platform with AI-powered tools. Fabric Databases, now in preview, integrates transactional and analytical workloads, offering features like vector search, RAG support, and Azure AI integration. Other advancements include the OneLake catalog for data management, the general availability of Fabric Real-Time Intelligence and API for GraphQL, and previews of Copilot integration for data pipelines and AI skill enhancements.

This cluster summarizes news and discussions surrounding Microsoft’s Copilot AI and its applications within various contexts, such as government and enterprise settings. The reports highlight both the successful adoption of Copilot by a significant portion of Fortune 500 companies and ongoing discussions regarding its impact and challenges.

Microsoft has released .NET 9, a major upgrade to its open-source software development platform. This release features significant performance enhancements and new capabilities for building AI-enabled applications. It includes over 1,000 performance-related changes across runtime, workloads, and languages, along with more efficient algorithms for code generation. Microsoft has made integrating AI into .NET apps easier by building out a smart components ecosystem. The release also includes new features in the C# and F# programming languages, making it easier and safer for developers to write code.

Microsoft is taking a bold step by integrating its AI-powered Copilot assistant into consumer Microsoft 365 subscriptions in select countries. This move is a strategic shift towards integrating AI capabilities directly into user workflows. Consumers in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand will now gain access to Copilot features in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions. This includes AI-powered assistance in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Designer. While the inclusion of Copilot comes with a slight price increase, it offers users a cost-effective option compared to a standalone Copilot Pro subscription. The decision to bundle Copilot into consumer plans suggests a potential future move for business customers as well, though details are yet to be revealed. Analysts believe that AI features will become increasingly integrated into office software subscriptions, driving broader adoption of AI tools.

Microsoft is incorporating AI-powered text editing features into its basic text editor, Notepad. This feature allows users to rewrite and enhance their text using AI. While the integration of AI in basic tools like Notepad could be viewed as a positive development, it also raises concerns about potential security vulnerabilities. Introducing complex AI features to simple software increases the attack surface, potentially exposing users to risks like malware and data breaches. It’s important for Microsoft to prioritize security and robust testing in this integration to ensure a seamless and secure user experience.

Microsoft has integrated AI-powered text rewriting capabilities into its Notepad application for Windows 11, offering users an enhanced editing experience. This AI-powered feature utilizes ChatGPT technology, enabling users to rewrite text, improve grammar and style, and generate new content directly within Notepad. This feature is currently available to testers and offers a limited amount of free usage. Users can pay to remove these limitations for unlimited access.

Microsoft’s ambitious AI-powered Windows Recall feature, which was originally slated for release in October, has been delayed again until December. The feature, designed to create searchable snapshots of user activity, has faced criticism over its potential for privacy violations and security concerns. Despite these concerns, Microsoft is committed to delivering Recall, but is taking additional time to ensure a “secure and trusted experience.” The company has made efforts to address privacy worries, including making Recall an opt-in feature and emphasizing enhanced security measures. However, the repeated delays suggest that the development process is proving more challenging than anticipated.

Mindgard security researchers have found two vulnerabilities in Microsoft Azure’s content safety filters for AI, namely AI Text Moderation and Prompt Shield. These vulnerabilities allow attackers to bypass these safeguards and inject malicious content into protected large language models (LLMs). Mindgard’s testing involved exposing ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo with Azure OpenAI to these filters and then using character injection and adversarial ML evasion techniques to circumvent them. The first method, character injection, involved adding specific characters and text patterns to prompts, leading to a significant drop in jailbreak detection effectiveness. The second, adversarial ML evasion, further reduced the effectiveness of both filters by finding blind spots in their ML classification systems. Microsoft acknowledged the issue and has been working on fixes for upcoming model updates. However, Mindgard emphasizes the seriousness of these vulnerabilities, as attackers could exploit them to compromise sensitive information, gain unauthorized access, manipulate outputs, and spread misinformation.