Microsoft Copilot Now Handles Online Tasks for You: A New Era of Automated Assistance

Microsoft is modifying its Copilot feature to enable the AI assistant to handle online tasks for users. By utilizing «simple chat prompts,» these «actions» can operate in the background while users focus on other activities, according to Microsoft. The assistant is capable of performing tasks such as making restaurant reservations, booking event tickets, and purchasing gifts for friends.

Among the launch partners are a variety of travel and leisure services, including Booking.com, Expedia, Kayak, Tripadvisor, Skyscanner, Viator, Vrbo, and Priceline. These partnerships will allow Copilot to assist users in planning their upcoming trips, along with Open Table for finding restaurants and 1-800-Flowers.com for ordering floral arrangements.

Microsoft claims that the Actions feature in Copilot will be compatible with «most websites» and can even arrange a «ride home» after events, suggesting potential support for taxi and ridesharing services.

Actions is being introduced alongside other personalized features, such as a tool that converts online content into AI-generated podcasts, an additional tool for shopping and finding deals, and the capability for Copilot to view and interact with what is happening on your camera.

While Microsoft has not provided specific details on how Actions will function, the concept shares similarities with features already announced by other AI providers.

In March, Amazon launched its AI agent Nova Act, which can perform tasks within the user’s browser, such as searching for information, shopping online, and answering questions based on screen content.

OpenAI has its own version named Operator, Google is working on Project Mariner, and Anthropic released a beta version of its «computer use» feature for its Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI model in October, which can autonomously navigate websites and carry out online tasks.

However, these comparable solutions are largely still in development or in early access stages. In contrast, Microsoft is rolling out the initial version of the Actions feature in Copilot starting today, with plans to expand availability over the «coming weeks and months,» depending on the platform, market, and language.

This positions it as one of the first AI services capable of automating tasks, potentially offering insight into the practicality and reliability of such tools.

[Source](https://www.theverge.com/news/643276/microsoft-copilot-ai-actions-feature-availability)