Meet Mico: Microsoft’s Adorable AI Revival of Clippy
It’s been nearly 30 years since Microsoft’s Office assistant, Clippy, first appeared as that infamous animated paperclip. Clippy’s eyebrow-raising interruptions ended in 2001 with Office XP, but Microsoft later tried reviving the helpful sidekick concept with Cortana on Windows Phone. The tech wasn’t ready back then, but now it’s giving it another shot with Mico—a new animated character for Copilot’s voice mode.
“Clippy walked so that we could run,” jokes Jacob Andreou, corporate VP of product and growth at Microsoft AI, in an interview with The Verge. Microsoft has been testing Mico (which rhymes with “pico”) for a few months as a virtual character that responds with real-time expressions during conversations. It’s now rolling out by default in Copilot’s voice mode, with an easy toggle to turn off the bouncing orb.
“You can see it, it reacts as you speak to it, and if you talk about something sad, you’ll see its facial expressions react almost immediately,” explains Andreou. “All the technology fades into the background, and you just start talking to this cute orb and build this connection with it.”
Mico launches exclusively in the US and ties into Copilot’s new memory feature, which recalls facts about you and your projects for more personalized responses.
Microsoft is also introducing a “Learn Live” mode for Mico, turning it into a Socratic tutor that guides you through concepts rather than just spitting out answers. It includes interactive whiteboards and visual aids, perfect for students cramming for finals or practicing a new language.
This all fits Microsoft’s push to give Copilot a distinct personality, as AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman hinted earlier this year: “Copilot will certainly have a kind of permanent identity, a presence, and it will have a room that it lives in, and it will age.”
Mico is central to Microsoft’s broader effort to make talking to your computer feel natural. The company is airing TV ads for the latest Windows 11 PCs, branding them as “the computer you can talk to.” (Remember Cortana on Windows 10? That push fizzled, leading to its shutdown on Windows 11 a couple of years ago.)
While Mico is far more advanced than Clippy or Cortana, Microsoft still faces the challenge of making voice AI feel less awkward. Like its predecessors, Mico includes Easter eggs to encourage interaction.
“It’s funny you mention Clippy; there is an Easter egg when you get to try Mico. If you poke Mico very very quickly, something special may happen,” teases Andreou. “We all live in Clippy’s shadow in some sense.”
Correction, October 23rd: A draft Microsoft blog post mentioned Mico would launch in the US, UK, and Canada. It’s only available in the US.