# Microsoft's Many Aborted AI Takeoffs with Copilot

> Source: <https://spyglass.org/microsoft-copilot-ai-strategy/>
> Published: 2026-08-05 14:33:18+00:00

# Microsoft's Many Aborted AI Takeoffs with Copilot

Can Microsoft win by selling pick-your-own model and data sovereignty in an AI Austerity Era?

Satya Nadella was going to make Google dance.

It was [February of 2023](https://www.theverge.com/23589994/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-bing-chatgpt-google-search-ai?utm_source=chatgpt.com) and Microsoft's CEO was [feeling confident](https://spyglass.org/10-years-of-satya-nadella/) that the overhaul of Bing, now powered by OpenAI's models, was going to [change the search game](https://spyglass.org/bing-copilot-ai-search/). To be fair, it sort of did. But only in so far as it was one of a number of things that perhaps [kicked Google into gear](https://spyglass.org/google-isnt-lazy-its-timid-as-it-sadly-must-be/) to eventually disrupt themselves with their own [overhaul of Search](https://spyglass.org/ai-google-search/), powered by their Gemini models.

Of course, the far larger kick in the ass came from ChatGPT itself and not Bing's variant. Microsoft's version [became more famous](https://spyglass.org/early-provocative-ai-chatbots-revisited/) for suggesting that reporters leave their spouses and getting [quickly reined in](https://500ish.com/from-samantha-to-dolores-9394312dd4f5?ref=spyglass.org). Soon afterwards, ChatGPT would go on to reign supreme in AI and Microsoft was [back to the drawing board](https://spyglass.org/does-microsoft-have-an-ai-problem/)...