Microsoft has upgraded its Copilot assistant into a fully agentic AI tool that can browse the web, complete real-world tasks, and remember personal details — marking a major leap in the AI arms race.

Amazon Too

Meanwhile, Amazon has joined the push towards ‘agentic’ AI with a new shopping assistant that can browse third-party websites and make purchases on your behalf, a clear sign that AI is no longer just answering questions, but starting to take real action.

A New Era For Microsoft Copilot?

This latest overhaul appears to mark an evolution in what Microsoft calls its vision for a “true AI companion.” The trending AI news from Microsoft (on the company’s 50th birthday – yes 50!) is that Copilot now supports web-based actions, letting users issue commands that the bot then carries out independently, e.g. from booking holidays to buying gifts.

How?

Microsoft has partnered with popular platforms like Booking.com, OpenTable, Kayak, and Tripadvisor to allow Copilot to take care of these tasks without switching tabs. For example, if a user asks Copilot to “book a table for two at 7pm tonight,” it will attempt to arrange this behind the scenes.

It seems that it’s not just limited to actions. For example, the new Copilot can now do some fairly impressive, helpful, and time-saving things like:

– Track online deals and alert users to price drops.

– Analyse video in real time via the user’s phone camera to answer context-aware questions.

– View the desktop to help organise files, adjust settings, or assist with projects.

– Generate podcasts based on documents or topics users care about.

– Turn notes into structured documents using a new Pages tool.

This apparent shift towards autonomy moves Copilot closer to what Microsoft CEO of AI Mustafa Suleyman calls your ‘AI companion’. As Suleyman says: “Copilot helps you stay organised, think clearly, learn more intuitively,” and that “It’s there when you need a quick factual answer… or when you fancy just downloading after a hard day.”

Memory and Personalisation

Perhaps the most transformative (and potentially controversial) upgrade is Copilot’s memory. For example, Copilot can now learn a user’s preferences over time, e.g. favourite foods, the dog’s name, or a specific project at work. In Microsoft’s words, it remembers “not just what you said, but who you are.”

Although some may find this idea a little uncomfortable, Microsoft’s point is that this allows Copilot to offer more tailored suggestions, reminders, and proactive help. Essentially, Microsoft now wants Copilot to be a digital assistant that actually knows its user, rather than starting fresh with each interaction.

Understandably, privacy concerns are already surfacing, but Microsoft insists users retain full control. For example, users can choose what Copilot remembers, delete specific “memories,” or opt out altogether via a dedicated dashboard.

Vision, Deep Research, and More (AI That Sees and Thinks!)

The new Copilot Vision feature enables the AI to “see” what a user’s phone’s camera sees and respond accordingly. For example, a user can point their phone at a mystery plant and ask what it is, or let Copilot scan their home office and suggest layout improvements.

Meanwhile, the Deep Research function is designed for knowledge workers and business users. It pulls together information from websites, documents, and images to deliver detailed answers to complex questions, much like ChatGPT’s research capabilities or Google’s Gemini Deep Research.

Also, for anyone who’s ever spent too long scrolling, AI-generated podcasts now offer a hands-free way to absorb information. In what seems an amazing development, Copilot actually creates a back-and-forth dialogue between two synthetic hosts, based on a user’s chosen topic, with the user even able to interrupt them to ask follow-up questions.

For Business Users

While consumer features have grabbed the headlines, many of these updates actually have strong implications for business users too.

The new Pages tool lets Copilot organise a user’s scattered notes and research into a shareable, editable canvas, thereby echoing functionality found in tools like Notion or ChatGPT’s Canvas. Action-taking capabilities could save hours in admin, letting users delegate routine bookings or purchases with a single prompt.

For time-pressed professionals, Copilot can therefore become part PA, part researcher and part assistant, a proposition that could significantly enhance productivity.

Microsoft’s AI Gamble

Microsoft’s move couldn’t come at a more pivotal moment. The company has faced criticism for lagging behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, particularly in the consumer space. Copilot was often seen as useful but uninspiring. However, these new capabilities may be the way to place it firmly back in the race and in some areas, perhaps even a step ahead.

By integrating Copilot more deeply into Windows and expanding its personalisation, Microsoft is playing to its strengths, i.e. existing platform dominance, long-term user relationships, and enterprise credibility. It’s an ecosystem play, not just a standalone app.

However, it’s not without risk. For example, questions remain about how well Copilot can actually perform tasks on websites, or what happens when it makes a mistake, especially in business-critical settings. Microsoft hasn’t published detailed data about error rates or site compatibility and, like similar agents, Copilot can be blocked by websites concerned about revenue loss from users bypassing their apps.

Amazon’s New Shopping Agent

Not to be outdone, Amazon is testing a new agent called ‘Buy for Me’. It’s designed to go one step further, if Amazon doesn’t stock what a user’s looking for, it sends its AI to scour third-party sites, complete the purchase, and fill in your payment and shipping details. This all happens with users never having to leave the Amazon app. The AI visits the target site, selects the item, and checks out, all powered by Amazon’s Nova AI models and Anthropic’s Claude.

Possible Issues

Amazon insists this process is secure. For example, billing information is encrypted, and Amazon itself can’t see what a user is ordering from third-party sellers. However, trust is likely to be a sticking point, i.e. ensuring users feel comfortable with the idea that Amazon’s agent is able to buy the right things in the right quantity, and won’t spend too much of their money.

Also, it seems that returns and exchanges are handled via the original seller, not Amazon, so this hands-off approach could add friction if anything goes wrong.

The Rise of Agentic AI

Copilot’s updates and Amazon’s new shopping agent are part of the industry’s shift from “chatbots that talk” to “agents that do”, a trend many have dubbed agentic AI. Instead of merely suggesting actions, these tools can now perform them, often without direct user supervision.

OpenAI’s Operator, Google’s agents, and Perplexity’s prepaid-card shopping bot are all part of this wave. However, Microsoft’s scale and Amazon’s reach could see them dominate the next phase of adoption.

For users, especially professionals, this could mean offloading a growing list of digital tasks. On the downside it could also mean having to grapple with questions around accuracy, oversight, and trust. Although the app updates have arrived and AI agents can now make decisions for users, whether they should be able to and how much control users are prepared to give up are still likely to be pertinent questions.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

By moving from reactive tools to proactive agents, Microsoft and Amazon are signalling a new era where AI doesn’t simply assist with tasks but actively takes them on. For everyday users, the promise is convenience and saved time. For businesses, particularly in the UK, it introduces new opportunities for productivity gains, automation, and customer service innovation, as well as fresh challenges around trust, oversight, and data governance.

For Microsoft, the evolution of Copilot into a more personalised and action-capable AI companion could help it stand out in a crowded market, especially among enterprise users already embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem. The ability for Copilot to act across websites, manage files, handle research, and learn user preferences may appeal to time-strapped teams juggling multiple workflows. If users can trust it and if it performs reliably, it could reduce the cognitive load and admin burden across roles, from project managers to marketing teams. However, it is whether questions around accuracy, transparency, and the limits of AI autonomy can be clearly answered that will affect adoption at scale.

Amazon’s move, while more commercially focused, appears to be pushing the envelope in a different way. Letting an AI complete purchases across third-party sites takes convenience to a new level, but also hands over a considerable amount of trust. For e-commerce operators, this could be a game-changer or a serious disruption, depending on whether their platforms are bypassed or embraced. For Amazon, it’s a chance to expand its dominance beyond its own catalogue, pulling even more of the retail experience under its umbrella.

For UK businesses, the wider implications here are worth considering. For example, AI agents could streamline internal operations, transform customer journeys, and create new service models entirely. However, they’ll also raise new questions about accountability, user control, and competitive fairness, especially as tech giants continue to roll out proprietary agents that act on users’ behalf. It seems, therefore, that the next phase of AI will not just be about what tools can say, but what they can actually do (on our behalf), and who’s actually responsible when they do it.

The UK government has unveiled sweeping new cyber legislation that could see organisations hit with fines of up to £100,000 (per day!) if they fail to respond to threats in time – a move that dramatically raises the stakes for IT providers, critical service operators, plus their supply chains.

Tough New Rules Aimed at Critical Infrastructure and the Tech Supply Chain

The draft Cyber Security and Resilience (CSR) Bill, formally outlined this week by technology secretary Peter Kyle, seems to be setting out a more aggressive approach to cyber regulation in response to what ministers describe as “unprecedented threats” to the UK’s digital and physical infrastructure.

Crucially, the bill expands the scope of current regulations and will bring managed service providers (MSPs), IT suppliers, and potentially datacentre operators into the same regulatory framework as public utilities and emergency services. This means that for the first time, commercial tech firms (up to 1,000 of them by current estimates) could be legally obliged to meet strict cybersecurity standards or face financial penalties.

“Economic growth is the cornerstone of our Plan for Change,” said Kyle, “And ensuring the security of the vital services which will deliver that growth is non-negotiable.”

Three Core Pillars – and a Sharp Set of Teeth!

The new bill is built on three pillars. First, widening the scope of the UK’s existing Network and Information Systems (NIS) regulations to include more types of organisations. Second, giving regulators stronger powers to enforce those rules and third, allowing government to rapidly update the rules in response to new and emerging cyber threats.

What’s new (and raising a few eyebrows) is the addition of discretionary government powers to issue binding cyber directives in real-time. For example, if an in-scope organisation receives a formal order to patch a vulnerability or improve cyber defences in response to an active threat and fails to comply, it could face daily fines of up to £100,000, or 10% of turnover, whichever is higher.

The message, therefore, appears to be that falling short isn’t just risky but could be ruinously expensive.

Why Supply Chain Security Is Now Front and Centre

The bill changes how cyber risk is perceived at the national level. For example, instead of focusing solely on headline-grabbing ransomware events or attacks on high-profile utilities, the government now appears to be turning its attention to the digital supply chain, i.e. the vast network of IT support firms, software providers, and cloud service operators that underpin the UK economy.

For example, the Cloud Hopper espionage campaign, which targeted MSPs to indirectly infiltrate governments and corporations, is a cautionary tale of how supply chain vulnerabilities can be weaponised at scale. Likewise, the recent breach of the Ministry of Defence’s payroll system showed how even indirect routes into sensitive data can have real-world consequences.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is backing the approach, and as NCSC CEO Richard Horne says: “The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is a landmark moment,” adding that “It will improve the cyber defences of the critical services on which we rely every day, such as water, power and healthcare.”

Datacentres and the Next Phase of CNI Regulation

The government is also strongly considering bringing datacentre operators into the bill’s remit, a step it hinted at last year when these facilities were designated as critical national infrastructure (CNI).

If passed, this could affect more than 180 UK-based datacentres and over 60 operators, according to industry figures. While exact compliance requirements haven’t yet been defined, it’s expected that these facilities will be subject to the same incident reporting rules and real-time intervention powers as other in-scope entities.

What’s more, ministers are exploring the use of AI tools to help detect and respond to threats inside these physical and virtual infrastructure hubs.

Mandatory Incident Reporting Tightens Timelines

Another key change is a tightening of mandatory reporting timelines. Organisations in scope of the CSR Bill will need to notify regulators and the NCSC of significant incidents within 24 hours – faster than the 72-hour window required by both the EU’s NIS2 directive and the US’s CIRCIA.

A full report must follow within 72 hours, creating a dual-stage reporting process that places UK organisations under one of the most stringent regulatory regimes in the world.

As technology secretary Peter Kyle says: “This is not just red tape,” but rather “It’s about making sure we know, quickly, when something serious is happening – and being able to act fast.”

Why This Isn’t a ‘One and Done’ Job

Legal experts and cyber risk consultants are warning that the scale of the challenge posed by the new rules is significant, i.e. not just in terms of cost, but also the time and effort required. For example, even well-resourced organisations could find the process of aligning legacy infrastructure with modern cyber resilience standards a long and complex task.

The key point that many are making is that cyber security is not something that can be addressed once and then forgotten. With threats constantly evolving, businesses will need to build ongoing investment and regular system upgrades into their operations. The burden, therefore, isn’t going to be just technical, but will also demand sustained leadership focus and cultural change across entire workforces. In other words, achieving compliance in this case is going to be a continuous journey.

Statutory Powers and Strategic Priorities

As well as giving regulators sharper enforcement tools, the bill proposes that the government publish a unified Statement of Strategic Priorities (updated every three to five years) to guide the approach of different regulators. This aims to bring consistency and clarity to enforcement across sectors, ensuring that energy, healthcare, and IT providers all face comparable expectations.

The government would also be granted the power to issue emergency directions to organisations where needed. This could prove vital in responding to fast-moving attacks, such as zero-day exploits or geopolitical cyber events.

Rising Threats, Rising Costs

The need for faster, tougher intervention isn’t theoretical. In 2023, attacks on UK utility firms surged by 586 per cent, according to reinsurance firm Chaucer. The NCSC dealt with 89 nationally significant incidents (up from 62 the previous year) including 12 so serious they required COBR (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) meetings.

Notably, one of the most damaging incidents of last year (i.e. the ransomware attack on NHS blood testing partner Synnovis) cost the NHS an estimated £32 million! Analysts have suggested that a well-coordinated attack on the energy grid in southeast England could cost the UK economy up to £49 billion!

In light of this, the CSR Bill is not just about compliance, but is also about protecting national prosperity.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The details of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill seem to show that the intention is to move things from reactive firefighting to proactive, enforceable standards. For UK businesses, particularly those in the technology supply chain, the message is that cybersecurity isn’t simply optional, nor is it simply an IT issue. It is now a board-level priority with legal and financial consequences attached.

While some organisations, especially larger providers, may already have mature systems in place, many will find that aligning with the new expectations demands more than just a policy refresh. Compliance will mean revisiting internal processes, investing in tools and training, and developing the ability to respond quickly and transparently to incidents. Smaller IT firms, regional MSPs, and niche datacentre operators, who may not have considered themselves part of critical national infrastructure until now, are likely to face the steepest learning curve.

The government’s aim appears to be to ensure the resilience of the UK’s digital backbone, and it is using both carrot and stick to get there. On one hand, businesses are being offered access to NCSC resources and support frameworks like Cyber Essentials. On the other, they face heavy penalties if they fail to take action when directed. Regulators, too, will be expected to step up, with clearer powers and more tools to enforce consistent, effective oversight across all sectors.

For regulators, IT service providers, and businesses that rely on outsourced digital infrastructure, the implications are far-reaching. In the short term, there may be uncertainty over exactly how these rules will be applied and interpreted, especially as the list of in-scope organisations grows. But in the long term, the bill signals a new era in which resilience and responsiveness are the benchmark for doing business in a connected economy.

The stakes are high but, looking on the positive side, so is the opportunity to build a more secure, digitally confident UK. With attacks becoming more frequent, more sophisticated, and more costly, the government is hoping that strong, enforceable rules are the best way to safeguard both national infrastructure and future economic growth. For those now falling under the scope of this legislation, the clock has started ticking.

Experts are warning AI-generated receipts are now so convincing that they could be used to cheat company expense systems.

OpenAI’s latest image generator, part of its ChatGPT 4o model, allows users to create fake receipts in seconds, complete with logos, stains, and creases. Online examples show how easily these images can bypass expense software, raising concerns among security experts.

For example, AI researcher Raphael Chenol has reported demonstrating how altering dates and prices on realistic-looking receipts now takes just seconds, where once it required graphic design skills. He warned that without safeguards, companies could soon face a flood of fraudulent claims.

Other security commentators say the risk isn’t limited to employee expense claims. It seems there are growing concerns that criminals could impersonate staff, submit fake receipts, and trick finance teams into making payments, particularly when paired with email-based scams targeting company accounts.

Although OpenAI says its images contain metadata showing they’re AI-generated, this can be removed. The company has defended the tool’s flexibility, saying it can also be used for education and creative work.

To reduce the risk, experts recommend multi-step approval processes and secure digital verification methods. As deepfake receipts become harder to spot, companies will need to rely less on visual checks, and more on trusted, auditable systems.

In a move towards sustainable space colonisation, scientists at the University of Potsdam (Germany) have created working solar panels from molten Moon dust, hopefully paving the way for lunar bases powered by materials already found on the Moon.

Why Haul It Up There If You Don’t Have To?

Transporting anything into space is expensive. In fact, launching just one kilogram of material to the Moon currently costs around one million euros! So, when the idea of building a future lunar base comes up, energy will become one of the trickiest challenges. For example, how do you supply enough power to sustain human life, scientific activity, and possibly even construction, without blowing the budget on rocket fuel?

That’s the question a team led by Dr. Felix Lang at the University of Potsdam’s Institute of Physics and Astronomy set out to answer. Together with colleagues from the Technical University of Berlin, they’ve now demonstrated that it may be possible to manufacture solar panels directly on the Moon using its most abundant resource, i.e. lunar regolith (moon dust).

Turning Moon Dust into Moonglass

Lunar regolith, the loose, dusty material that covers the Moon’s surface, has long been seen as a nuisance for astronauts. However, it now seems that it could become one of the Moon’s most valuable resources. This dusty substance, composed mostly of silicon dioxide (SiO₂), aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃), and calcium oxide (CaO), can be melted into glass with the right heat source.

Using a lunar regolith simulant based on Apollo mission samples, the researchers melted this Moon dust into what they’re calling “moonglass”. Then, they layered it with an ultra-thin coating of perovskite, a crystalline material that’s light, flexible, and highly efficient at converting solar energy.

The result was a lightweight, radiation-resistant solar cell built, crucially, using minimal resources from Earth.

Scalable, Simple, and Surprisingly Resilient

What makes this discovery stand out isn’t just the ingenuity, it’s the practicality. For example, the solar cells require only a tiny amount of imported material. According to Dr. Lang, “These solar cells require ultrathin absorber layers of 500 to 800 nanometres only, allowing the fabrication of 400 square metre solar cells with just one kilogram of perovskite raw material brought from Earth.”

That’s a dramatic reduction in launch mass, potentially slashing it by 99 per cent compared to conventional space-based solar panels, which typically rely on heavy glass and other Earth-manufactured materials.

Even better, the production process doesn’t need any complex refining or purification. “The highlight of our study is that we can extract the glass we need for our solar cells directly from the lunar regolith without any processing,” Lang explained. “The process is also scalable so that the solar cells can be produced with little equipment and very little energy input.”

The team even tested the feasibility of melting regolith using a large curved mirror and concentrated sunlight in order to demonstrate that solar power itself could drive the production of the panels.

How Efficient Are They?

As may be expected, using moonglass instead of conventional transparent glass presents some limitations. For example, the material is milky and varies in colour and opacity depending on the regolith source, which affects how much sunlight can pass through.

Current prototypes have reached efficiencies of around 12 per cent, which is less than half of the 26 per cent typically achieved by standard perovskite cells. However, this is no small feat given the conditions. As Lang says: “In the beginning, it was unclear whether we could produce them in sufficient quality on impure regolith lunar glass.”

Refinements

That said, computer models suggest that (with refinements) these solar cells could eventually match the performance of their Earth-bound counterparts. Given their resilience to solar and cosmic radiation, which is critical in the Moon’s harsh, atmosphere-free environment, the trade-off in early efficiency may be worth it.

Building the Infrastructure for a Lunar Power Plant

Producing solar panels from local materials is just one piece of a much bigger puzzle. For any lunar energy project to succeed, a full infrastructure is needed, e.g. from regolith collection and glass production to solar panel assembly and maintenance.

Dr. Michael Duke from the Lunar and Planetary Institute points out that this kind of manufacturing will require significant technological development. “From excavating regolith to connecting individual cells into arrays, the engineering challenges are considerable,” he said. However, if these hurdles can be overcome, the benefits could extend far beyond the Moon.

An example of one future possibility is using the Moon as a launchpad to produce solar cells for satellites or space stations. Since launching from the Moon takes far less energy than from Earth, a Moon-based solar factory could support a wider network of off-planet energy production.

Critics Cautiously Optimistic

As great as the invention sounds, not everyone is convinced just yet. For example, although Nicholas Bennett from the University of Technology Sydney called the work “a first successful use of moonglass in a functioning solar cell,” he cautioned that the next big challenge lies in scaling production outside of the lab.

Other commentators have noted the advantages of using regolith but have also highlighted how questions remain about how feasible it would be to build large-scale systems on the Moon’s surface, especially with current robotics and autonomous technologies still developing.

That said, there appears to be a strong scientific interest in pushing the concept forward. The Potsdam team is now investigating whether the glass quality could be improved by using magnets to filter out iron content before melting the regolith.

A Future Built on Dust and Light?

As the world gears up for a new era of space exploration, with NASA’s Artemis missions aiming to return humans to the Moon and establish a sustainable presence, technologies like this could prove pivotal. Space agencies and private companies alike are increasingly looking at “in-situ resource utilisation” (ISRU) as the key to long-term success.

It’s also worth noting here that this isn’t the only innovation involving lunar dust. Other research teams are exploring how to 3D-print Moon bases from regolith, extract oxygen from it for breathing or fuel, and even melt lunar ice using space mirrors to create drinkable water.

As Dr. Lang puts it, the work is already sparking the next wave of ideas: “We are already thinking, ‘Can we make this work with Mars regolith?’” It seems that the age-old annoyance of Moon dust could become a cornerstone of humanity’s off-world future.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation?

The idea of building solar panels from Moon dust seems to be both clever and a logical response to the logistical and environmental costs of hauling materials from Earth. By proving that regolith can be turned into usable glass without any complex processing, the Potsdam team appears to have taken a major step toward true in-situ resource use. If scaled successfully, this method could allow future lunar bases to generate their own electricity with minimal imports, reducing reliance on costly Earth launches and drastically cutting the carbon footprint of long-term missions.

For space agencies, that means a more sustainable model for exploration, and one that’s not only greener, but also more resilient. For scientists, it opens up the possibility of powering instruments, life support systems and habitats in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. Also, for commercial space firms, it offers a route to building infrastructure directly on the Moon using fewer resources and less energy.

UK businesses involved in clean energy, advanced materials, aerospace engineering or autonomous systems could have a key role to play here. As space programmes increasingly look for Earth-based partners to develop and supply off-world technologies, firms that specialise in thin-film photovoltaics, automated construction, or regolith processing could find themselves part of the next space economy. With the UK already supporting innovation in lunar missions through partnerships with ESA and its own Space Agency initiatives, the groundwork is being laid for real involvement in future Moon infrastructure.

However, before getting too carried away, it’s worth noting that there’s still plenty to prove. For example, efficiency gains are needed, large-scale production methods must be tested, and robotic assembly systems will need to be far more advanced than what exists today. Accepting that there are still some major challenges, it’s also worth acknowledging that as a proof of concept, this research challenges long-held assumptions about what’s possible in space. It essentially means that the Moon is no longer just a blank canvas but is becoming a resource in its own right.

As the line between space innovation and sustainable engineering continues to blur, it’s increasingly likely that the breakthroughs made for lunar survival will feed directly back into how we build, power and conserve resources here on Earth.

ChatGPT has recently made a dramatic difference to the images you can produce and this video provides five examples of how it can be used – impressive stuff!

[Note – To Watch This Video without glitches/interruptions, It may be best to download it first]

Do you spend ages dragging emails into folders, forwarding the same replies, or flagging messages for follow-up? Outlook’s ‘Quick Steps’ can automate all of that, turning multi-click jobs into a single tap. Here’s how to use it:

Why it’s useful:

Quick Steps are great for saving time on repetitive actions. You can set up shortcuts to do things like:

– Move invoices into a specific folder and mark them as read.
– Forward a client message to your manager with a standard intro.
– Flag emails from important customers and categorise them in one go.
– Reply with a template and archive the thread immediately after.

How to set it up:

– Open Outlook and go to the Home tab.
– Look for the Quick Steps group in the ribbon, then click Create New.
– Give your step a name, choose the actions you want it to perform, and (optional) assign a shortcut key.
– Click Finish.

If you regularly deal with the same kinds of emails, Quick Steps can cut hours off your inbox admin over the course of a week. It’s one of those features that’s easy to miss, but once you start using it, you won’t go back.