Microsoft Ditches Mico from Copilot Voice Role

Microsoft has announced that Mico, the anthropomorphic assistant introduced as part of its Copilot voice application last year, will be leaving the spotlight. The company confirmed that Mico will no longer be the face of Copilot Voice and will instead join Learn Live, a voice-based study mode that guides users through subjects and assignments.

According to Microsoft, Mico helped the company learn about warmth and expressiveness in AI interactions. However, it appears that these lessons were not enough for the assistant to stay in its current role.

This is not the first time Microsoft has introduced an anthropomorphic assistant that failed to gain traction. The company had previously launched Clippy, Cortana, and even Microsoft Bob, which all met with varying degrees of success or failure.

David Plummer, the engineer responsible for Microsoft Bob's inclusion as an encrypted blob, said 'What's ultimately important is that while Bob never got to play on the big stage, he always followed the band around and got to ride on the bus.'