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Innovation

You can now run Microsoft's AI-powered Copilot as a free Android app

Sorry, iPhone users. No Copilot app for you - but you can always use the Bing AI app.
Written by Lance Whitney, Contributor
Microsoft's Copilot app for Android
screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

Android users now have yet another AI-powered app they can run on their devices. Courtesy of Microsoft, the new Copilot app works similarly to OpenAI's ChatGPT app and Microsoft's own Bing AI app and kicks in the latest models for GPT-4 and DALL-E 3.

Debuting about a week ago, according to the folks at Neowin, the app is freely available at Google Play. Upon launching the app, you'll find the usual AI features and capabilities. You can use it without an account. But signing in with your Microsoft account grants you more questions and longer conversations.

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Start with sample questions or dive in with your own requests. You can type your question at the prompt or speak it by tapping the microphone icon. You're also able to upload a photo or other image and ask the app to analyze it. You can enable GPT-4 to try to get more reliable and accurate responses. And you're able to switch between Light and Dark modes depending on your preference.

"Copilot is a pioneering chat assistant from Microsoft powered by the latest OpenAI models, GPT-4 and DALL-E 3," states the app's product page. "These advanced AI technologies provide fast, complex, and precise responses, as well as the ability to create breathtaking visuals from simple text descriptions."

So why would Microsoft release another AI app when it already has Bing? The answer likely lies in the use of the word Copilot.

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Microsoft has been on a tear trying to infuse that term and technology into many of its products, resulting in Copilot for Windows, Copilot for Microsoft 365, Copilot for Azure, GitHub Copilot, and more. The company even renamed its Bing Chat platform to Copilot. Launching a dedicated app with the Copilot name is yet another way to further the brand and concept.

For now, the app is limited to Android. Sorry, iPhone users. But it's a safe bet that Microsoft will expand it to iOS. Until then, iPhone owners can always use the Bing AI app.

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