Microsoft Eyes OpenClaw-Style AI Agents for 365 Copilot

Microsoft is reportedly looking into adding OpenClaw-like bots into 365 Copilot, which could provide round-the-clock AI assistance across a range of tasks.

Interest in the open-source project OpenClaw from both AI enthusiasts and businesses has led many of the top players to explore building their own AI agent services. Microsoft is betting that combining OpenClaw’s broad agent capabilities with its own security and safety processes could result in a product better suited for enterprise use.

Microsoft confirmed to The Information that it is exploring technologies like OpenClaw in an enterprise context. Several security vulnerabilities have already been demonstrated, including prompt injection and related exploits, pushing the industry toward more secure, proprietary agent systems. Alongside strengthening security, Microsoft also believes it can limit the permissions an AI agent needs to perform a task, reducing the risk of rogue actions impacting a business.

An enterprise-level version of OpenClaw could handle tasks such as monitoring Outlook, Calendar, and OneDrive, and responding to incoming data. For example, instead of sending a boilerplate out-of-office reply, it could tailor responses depending on whether the sender is a colleague, a friend, or unknown.

Could AI agents be the ‘next ChatGPT’

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang certainly seems to think these AI agents will play an important part in the AI revolution. In a recent interview, he described OpenClaw as the “largest, most popular and successful open-sourced project in the history of humanity,” adding that it could be the next ChatGPT.

While not at the same level of usage as ChatGPT, the open-source project has been installed millions of times. It has also pushed several chatbot operators to shift toward assistants. Perplexity, for example, has pivoted from search to AI agents, with recent launches such as Perplexity Computer, which offers 19 models and assigns tasks to the one best suited to perform them. It has also introduced Personal Computer, which allows users to turn a Mac Mini into an always-on AI assistant.

Microsoft clearly sees a future where AI agents perform tasks on behalf of users. The head of its AI division, Mustafa Suleyman, has said that most office work could be automated within 12 to 18 months.

Microsoft aims to be leading edge in 12 months

The potential integration of OpenClaw into Copilot is part of Microsoft’s push to regain market share and usage in AI. Compared to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, Microsoft has been trailing and is reportedly exploring a break from OpenAI to build its own leading-edge models.

Pressure is mounting given the surge in data center spending. Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are expected to spend around $650 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, a sharp increase from 2025.

Suleyman said the company needs to be at the frontier, delivering state-of-the-art AI by the end of 2027. Alongside launching foundational models to compete with GPT, Gemini, and Claude, Microsoft also plans to develop more focused models for specific sectors and services.

Its MAI-Image-2 model, launched last month, is an early example of that shift.

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