Microsoft just unveiled Copilot Tasks, an AI agent system that operates on its own cloud-based computer to handle busywork in the background. The feature, announced Thursday, represents Microsoft's most ambitious push yet into autonomous AI agents - systems that don't just answer questions but actually complete tasks while you work on something else. By offloading execution to dedicated cloud infrastructure, the system can schedule appointments, generate study plans, and tackle recurring jobs without taxing your local device.
Microsoft is making a major play for the autonomous AI agent market with Copilot Tasks, a system that operates on its own dedicated cloud infrastructure to complete work while users focus elsewhere. The company announced the preview Thursday, positioning the feature as a shift from AI assistants that answer questions to agents that take action.
The architecture is what sets Copilot Tasks apart. Instead of running on your laptop or phone, the system spins up its own cloud-based computer and browser to execute tasks in the background. That means you can describe a job in natural language - "schedule weekly team syncs for the next month" or "compile competitor pricing data every Friday" - and Copilot Tasks handles it independently, delivering a report when finished.
Users can assign work on three schedules: one-time tasks for immediate jobs, scheduled tasks that run at specific times, and recurring tasks that repeat automatically. The system supports everything from appointment scheduling to research compilation to generating personalized study plans, according to Microsoft's announcement. It's built to handle the kind of repetitive busywork that fills up calendars but doesn't require deep expertise.
