'Just Ask For What You Need:' Mustafa Suleyman Teases Microsoft's Copilot Tasks As AI That Automates Emails, Study Plans And More

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is previewing a new AI system designed to move beyond chat responses and actively complete tasks in the background using its own cloud-based computing power.

Microsoft Enters The Agentic AI Race With Copilot Tasks

On Thursday, Microsoft unveiled a research preview of Copilot Tasks, a new artificial intelligence (AI) capability aimed at automating digital busywork.

Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman took to X and described it as "a whole new way to get things done," adding, "AI that talks less and does more, no complicated setup or coding skills required."

Unlike traditional chatbots that respond to prompts, Copilot Tasks is designed to take action.

Users can describe what they need in natural language and assign one-time or recurring jobs. The system then runs in the background on Microsoft's cloud infrastructure and delivers a report once finished.

What Copilot Tasks Can Do

According to Microsoft, the feature can turn a course syllabus into a structured study plan with practice exams, monitor apartment listings weekly and book showings, surface urgent emails with draft replies, unsubscribe from promotional messages and even create slide decks from inbox content.

"Just ask for what you need and Copilot will take it from there," Suleyman wrote in a post on X.

The company said the system will request permission before taking "meaningful actions," such as sending messages or making payments.

Competing With ChatGPT, Claude

Copilot Tasks appears to be Microsoft's answer to the growing wave of "agentic AI" tools, including offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic, that can browse the web and complete multi-step tasks.

For now, Copilot Tasks is available to a small group of testers, with a public waitlist open through Microsoft's website.

Price Action: Shares of Microsoft fell 0.58% in pre-market trading on Friday after edging up 0.27% to close at $401.72 on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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