Microsoft's AI Efforts Are Faceplanting

"Current and former employees tell The Wall Street Journal in new reporting that the company's confusing branding and grating lack of cohesion between its products has frustrated and turned off users. And data reviewed by the newspaper shows that a vanishingly small percentage of its enterprise customers prefer using its AI chatbot and assistant Copilot, which appears to be losing ground to its competitors at Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic."

"Microsoft is certainly giving OpenAI a run for its money in the bad-branding department. It has multiple versions of Copilot woven across its different services and software - too many versions, you might argue. Do you need Microsoft 365 Copilot, or Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat? What about just plain old Microsoft Copilot, or Microsoft Copilot Studio? If you're more nerdy, you might prefer Github Copilot or Microsoft Security Copilot."

"The gist is that Copilots are divided into different groups for different customers: one for general consumers, one for programmers and developers, and an enterprise Copilot for companies and professionals. Nonetheless, because it's Microsoft, it can still bring in a large user base even if it's dual-wielding pistols to shoot itself in the foot. Last week, it reported that it had sold 15 million Microsoft 365 Copilot "seats" or annual users,"

Microsoft has increasingly prioritized AI, in many cases at the expense of core products such as the Windows operating system. Current and former employees report that confusing branding and poor cohesion between products have frustrated and turned off users. Usage data indicates a vanishingly small percentage of enterprise customers prefer using Copilot, which is losing ground to competitors including Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. A recent near-12 percent stock drop reflected investor doubts about the AI-first strategy and heavy spending. Microsoft offers many overlapping Copilot versions segmented for consumers, developers, and enterprises, yet still reported selling 15 million Microsoft 365 Copilot seats.

Read at Futurism