Watch Your Step

Copilot is integrated as part of Windows 11 22H2 Moment 4 or Windows 11 23H2. As with all new functions, Microsoft does not enable new services on all computers at once, but in several steps. Because of legal regulations in Europe, it might take some time before Copilot is available everywhere in Windows 11.

That said, not all companies will want to use the artificial intelligence (AI) function in Windows 11. Wherever the feature is desired, effective management – including data protection – should always be in place. Windows Copilot is currently still at a very early stage. Microsoft can be expected to make significant improvements, also in terms of configuration options for administrators. At present, though, the control functions are fairly few and far between; I look at some control approaches in more detail in this article.

In principle, Microsoft automatically enables all functions in the AI services as soon as they are available and all users can access them. If you want to restrict usage, you need to make some changes by Group Policy, registry values, the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, the Bing Chat Enterprise Admin Center, Microsoft Intune, or other services. It generally makes sense to have a set of rules for the use of AI services, but this is not a task for the IT department.

Windows Copilot is accompanied by the integration of AI chat functionality in Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome in the form of the new Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise for businesses. As with ChatGPT, users can communicate with the GPT-4 large language model (LLM). In the case of Bing Chat, the AI accesses the Internet directly. You have various ways in which to make use of the AI features on Windows 10 and Windows 11: Windows Copilot, Bing Chat, Bing Chat Enterprise, and the option to communicate directly with ChatGPT, as well as with Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Corporate Data in the Crosshairs

The various LLMs on which AI bots such as ChatGPT, Windows Copilot, and Google Bard are based do not just learn from predefined training data, but also from the information that users of the AI bots enter at the various prompts to retrieve information from the AI and to create texts. If they use critical or personal data when interacting with the AI, this is equivalent to transferring the data to the Internet and releasing the data to the AI, which then learns by processing the information.

In a worst case scenario, this chain of events can lead to a company's competitors gaining access to internal information and profiting from it because employees have passed on the data voluntarily. Many company managers are not yet aware of these consequences, which is why Windows Copilot and Bing Chat need to be managed, such that it is only possible to use these services without disclosing sensitive data.

As a general rule, controlling services does not mean that AI chats are not used at all in companies – after all, they can be used to perform important and useful tasks. However, it is crucial to manage that use and to prevent company secrets from flowing first to the AI and then to other players.

Companies who opt for Bing Chat can rely on Bing Chat Enterprise to serve this function. Users benefit from a more feature-rich AI chat, but the requested information is not used for the AI's own learning process and therefore not passed on. Bing Chat Enterprise protects companies against the risk of sensitive data falling into the wrong hands. In general, the recommendation is not to use Bing Chat in a corporate environment, but instead to opt for Bing Chat Enterprise, possibly in conjunction with Windows Copilot, which is based on Bing Chat and can also use Bing Chat Enterprise.

Windows Copilot in Europe

Put simply, Windows Copilot is the direct integration of GPT-4 into Windows 11. Redmond is rolling out Copilot in the Moment 4 update in Windows 11 22H2, and you can expect to see it in Windows 11 23H2 at the latest. Although the feature set is already installed in Europe, it cannot be used right now because of the Digital Markets Act, a European Union (EU) regulation intended to ensure fairer competition in the EU and give users more choice when it comes to online offerings.

You can launch Copilot by clicking on the icon in the taskbar or typing in the shortcut,

microsoft-edge:///?ux=copilot&tcp=1&source=taskbar

which works on computers in Europe even before the feature is officially enabled by Microsoft. You simply need the latest updates in place. If they are, you can use Copilot on the basis of Bing Chat Enterprise, provided the computer meets the requirements and your company has taken out a subscription to match (Figure 1).

Figure 1: In combination with Bing Chat Enterprise, Windows Copilot does not send user prompts to Microsoft, as indicated by the Protected label.

Windows Copilot appears as a sidebar in Windows 11 that is not hidden by other programs, which means you can work with Copilot and other programs in parallel. If Copilot is not yet available on your computer, enabling the Get the latest updates as soon as they're available setting in Windows Update in the Windows 11 configuration should help. No admin rights are required – one more good reason to come to grips with the issue now.

Windows Copilot in Practice

You can press the Copilot icon and then type AI prompts directly in Windows (e.g., to control the operating system). Examples might be, The screen is too bright , The volume is too high , or I want to activate BitLocker . The AI is initially intended to help you control Windows quickly and easily by avoiding the need for deep diving into menus and letting you type your questions and problems directly at the chat prompt. Copilot can then run the programs itself or display step-by-step instructions.

At the same time, you can work directly with conventional AI prompts, entering the prompts in the same way as in ChatGPT. Note that the data does not remain on your network; instead, Copilot phones home to Microsoft. Copilot is based on GPT-4, but Microsoft has stated that it will not transfer any data to OpenAI. Of course, Microsoft uses the data itself.

When you use Windows Copilot, the communication exchange takes place over the Internet, and Copilot, or the underlying AI, learns from the input. As I mentioned earlier, it does not make sense to share company secrets with Windows Copilot and Bing Chat – or with ChatGPT, Google, Bard, or any other AI bot, for that matter. However, if your computer is connected to Azure AD/Entra ID and you log in there, you can use Copilot with Bing Chat Enterprise. In this case, the company's data is protected against use for AI training, as indicated by the Protected status at the top of the Copilot window.

If you do not see this status indicator, Copilot is using Bing Chat. In this case, you should avoid using the chat feature and enable Bing Chat Enterprise up front. You need a matching Microsoft 365 subscription to make this available in the browser and in Windows Copilot.