By September 2023, Microsoft had an AI branding problem. They had Bing Chat, Windows Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and GitHub Copilot—all different names for AI assistants doing similar things.

On September 21, 2023, Microsoft solved it: everything became "Copilot."

One brand, one experience, everywhere you used Microsoft products.

The Branding Mess

Before unification, Microsoft's AI landscape was confusing:

• Bing Chat: AI in the Bing search engine
• Windows Copilot: AI in Windows 11
• Microsoft 365 Copilot: AI in Office apps
• GitHub Copilot: AI for coding (kept separate)
• Security Copilot: AI for cybersecurity

Each had different capabilities, pricing, and access methods. Users didn't know what was what.

The Unified Vision

Microsoft's announcement simplified everything:

One Name: "Copilot" for all consumer and enterprise AI One Experience: Consistent interface across products One Account: Same Copilot features everywhere you sign in One Strategy: AI woven into every Microsoft product

Bing Chat became "Copilot." Windows AI features became "Copilot in Windows." Everything unified under one brand.

The Features

Unified Copilot brought together capabilities:

GPT-4 and DALL-E 3: Latest OpenAI models integrated Web access: Real-time information from Bing Image generation: DALL-E 3 for creating visuals Multimodal: Text, images, soon voice Cross-product: Start on phone, continue on PC

And crucially: Free for Windows 11 users.

The Strategic Logic

Why unification made sense:

1. Brand clarity: "Copilot" became Microsoft's AI identity 2. User understanding: One name, one concept 3. Competition with ChatGPT: Clear alternative brand 4. Ecosystem lock-in: One AI across all Microsoft products 5. Enterprise narrative: Unified story for business customers

It transformed Microsoft from "company with AI features" to "the Copilot company."

The iPhone Moment

Microsoft positioned Copilot as their "iPhone moment" for AI—not just features, but a fundamental shift in how people compute.

Just as the iPhone made smartphones essential, Copilot would make AI assistants integral to all computing.

Whether that's hyperbole or prescient remains to be seen.

Where Are They Now?

Copilot is now embedded across Microsoft's ecosystem. It's in Windows, Edge, Office, Teams, and more. The unified branding stuck.

Microsoft even added a dedicated Copilot key to keyboards—the first major keyboard change in 30 years.

September 21, 2023 was the day Microsoft bet their entire AI strategy on one brand: Copilot. The gamble appears to be paying off.