Microsoft has formed a new Superintelligence team within its AI division, aiming to develop what it calls “humanist superintelligence” — advanced AI that remains under human control.

The team, announced Thursday morning in a post by Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, reflects the company’s ambitions to shape the next era of artificial intelligence while addressing concerns about safety and control in the development of advanced AI systems.

“We are doing this to solve real concrete problems and do it in such a way that it remains grounded and controllable,” Suleyman wrote. “We are not building an ill-defined and ethereal superintelligence; we are building a practical technology explicitly designed only to serve humanity.”

The approach contrasts with the broader pursuit of artificial general intelligence, or AGI — the goal of creating AI systems that can match or surpass human capabilities across virtually any task — which is core to the mission of Microsoft’s longtime partner, OpenAI, and its CEO Sam Altman.

In his message, Suleyman cited early directions in areas such as healthcare, where Microsoft researchers are developing expert-level diagnostic models, and clean energy, where AI could accelerate breakthroughs in materials, batteries, and fusion research. 

The goal, he wrote, is to advance technology “within limits” — keeping humanity in control while harnessing AI’s potential to improve lives on a global scale

Suleyman will lead the new MAI Superintelligence Team, joined by Microsoft AI Chief Scientist Karén Simonyan and other core Microsoft AI leaders and researchers. Key leaders who’ve been involved in Microsoft’s model development work are also expected to be part of the effort.

The company hasn’t disclosed how large the group is expected to become.

Microsoft is rolling out a series of updates to its consumer Copilot AI assistant, including shared group chats, long-term memory, and an optional visual persona named Mico.

New capabilities include a “real talk” conversation style, a Learn Live feature that acts as a voice-enabled Socratic tutor, new connectors that link to services like Google Drive, Gmail, and Outlook, and deeper integration with Microsoft’s Edge browser.

Microsoft is competing against AI tools including Google’s Gemini, Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s revamped Siri, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Anthropic’s Claude in the consumer market. 

It looks to be the single biggest Copilot update to date from the group led by Mustafa Suleyman, the Google DeepMind co-founder who joined Microsoft last year as its AI CEO. 

“This release is a milestone for what AI can deliver,” Suleyman writes in a blog post, explaining that the idea is to make Copilot a comprehensive assistant that connects users to their personal information, contacts, and tools with the goal of improving their lives.

The features are rolling out starting today in the U.S, and the company says they will be available soon in the UK, Canada, and other parts of the world. Microsoft is showing the new features in the live stream below.