I reported last week that OpenAI is planning to launch GPT-5 in early August, as part of an effort to simplify and combine its large language models. Just a day after my report, references to GPT-5 were spotted inside Microsoft’s Copilot web app, hinting at a new smart mode.

Sources familiar with Microsoft’s AI plans tell me that the company is currently testing this new smart mode for Copilot across both the consumer version and the commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot. In the consumer version, the mode is described as offering an AI that “thinks deeply or quickly based on the task,” so you don’t have to pick different models.

The employee-only version of Microsoft 365 Copilot has a similar smart mode, which allows Copilot to “use the most relevant model for your request to give you better results,” I’ve learned. None of the internal versions of Copilot mention GPT-5 yet, and the model suggests it’s still using GPT-4 when answering queries. But this UI still points toward a GPT-5 mode for Copilot.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed earlier this year that the AI lab is working toward improving ChatGPT’s model picker. “We hate the model picker as much as you do and want to return to magic unified intelligence,” Altman said in February. In the same post on X, Altman also revealed that GPT-5 will include its o3 model instead of shipping it as a standalone version.

This idea of a “magic” model picker has also been used by Microsoft internally. I understand that some parts of Microsoft 365 Copilot have been showing a magic mode in recent weeks that’s designed to function the same as the smart mode. It’s likely that magic mode is simply a codename for smart mode, and this magic version still doesn’t mention GPT-5. That’s not all that unusual, though, as Microsoft doesn’t usually list the OpenAI model it’s using for its various Copilot modes.

I suspect that this smart mode is showing up in Copilot early because Microsoft engineers are preparing for the release of GPT-5. OpenAI had previously targeted an earlier release of GPT-5, and Microsoft has typically followed up with its own implementation of OpenAI’s models in Copilot quickly after they’re released. Microsoft’s AI-powered version of Bing was using OpenAI’s GPT-4 model for six weeks before OpenAI officially announced GPT-4. Microsoft also quickly launched OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model as part of a Copilot overhaul last year, before making it free to use several months later. Microsoft even made the Sora video generator free to use, months after OpenAI released its paid version.

Microsoft declined to comment on the GPT-5 references in Copilot, and the company isn’t commenting on its new smart mode, either. If all goes well with OpenAI’s final GPT-5 preparations, then I expect we’ll see Copilot’s smart mode show up for everyone very soon.

The pad:

• Microsoft’s AI CEO thinks Copilot will age and “have a room that it lives in.” Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman has been discussing the idea of Copilot aging and being personalized enough that it has its own virtual room to live in. At the same time, Microsoft has just launched a new Copilot Appearance virtual character feature that responds to queries with real-time expressions. It sounds like Microsoft wants to make an AI version of a Tamagotchi. I wonder if we’ll have to feed Copilot a loaf of bread or a piece of candy to keep it happy?
• Windows 10 is now 10 years old. Windows 10 turned 10 years old this week, making me feel older than ever before. I remember live blogging the Windows 10 announcement solo, frantically taking photos and furiously typing up all the new features during an event that wasn’t livestreamed. A decade later and most of Microsoft’s new Windows features are AI-related and feel a lot less exciting than how Microsoft built Windows 10. Nevertheless, Windows 10 introduced the idea of “Windows as a service,” a model that delivers regular updates to Windows instead of big releases every few years. That still exists in Windows 11 today, as Microsoft continues to try and tempt Windows 10 users to upgrade ahead of the end-of-support cutoff in October.
• Microsoft has uncovered a macOS Spotlight security flaw. Security researchers at Microsoft notified Apple of a flaw in macOS earlier this year that could have allowed attackers to access files in a device’s downloads folder and data cached by Apple Intelligence. Apple patched the flaw in March, and Microsoft revealed the full details earlier this week.
• Xbox will let you play Silksong at Gamescom in August. I’m heading to Cologne, Germany, next month to play with the new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds and get a first hands-on with the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong. The new Xbox Ally handhelds will be on display at the Xbox booth at Gamescom, and Microsoft is promising “a couple more surprises at the show from our partners too.”
• Microsoft Edge transforms into an AI browser with new Copilot Mode. Microsoft has launched an experimental Copilot Mode for its Edge browser this week that allows the AI assistant to search all your open tabs and handle tasks like booking a restaurant. Copilot Mode is somewhere between the limited Gemini integration that Google is testing in Chrome and the AI-powered overhaul that Comet offers with its AI browser. It’s an optional feature you have to manually enable right now, and Microsoft mentions that it’s “free for a limited time,” so it’s unlikely that Copilot Mode will be turned on as default for all Edge users anytime soon.
• Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature is now blocked by Brave and AdGuard. Signal kicked off a trend of blocking Recall earlier this year, and now AdGuard and the Brave browser are also blocking the Windows AI feature. AdGuard calls Recall a “privacy concern,” and Brave is also concerned about the privacy implications. Brave and AdGuard, much like Signal, are enabling this block by default for Copilot Plus PC owners.
• Microsoft chief seeks to reassure employees in layoffs memo. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella didn’t send a company-wide memo when Microsoft laid off as many as 9,000 employees earlier this month, but he finally got around to emailing employees last week. While Nadella expressed gratitude for affected employees, he didn’t guarantee there won’t be more layoffs in the near future and noted that Microsoft’s headcount is “relatively unchanged” despite the cuts. I don’t think this memo has reassured most Microsoft employees, and, in fact, it makes it clearer than ever that employees must adapt to Microsoft’s AI transformation and platform shift or risk being part of the next wave of layoffs.
• Microsoft starts rolling out Xbox age verification in the UK. Microsoft is starting to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act by prompting Xbox players to verify their age. While age verification in the UK is optional right now, it will be required early next year to “retain full access to social features on Xbox, such as voice or text communication and game invites.” Microsoft says it’s also exploring bringing similar age verification tools to other countries in the future.
• Microsoft nears OpenAI agreement for ongoing tech access. Microsoft is reportedly close to finalizing a deal to keep access to OpenAI’s models even if the startup reaches its goal of building artificial general intelligence (AGI). Microsoft’s current contract with OpenAI means it loses access to models if OpenAI reaches AGI, and the pair have been negotiating a new deal for months now.
• Xbox loses its chief sustainability officer. After four years at Xbox, Trista Patterson, Microsoft’s director of sustainability for Xbox hardware, is leaving the company. Patterson was a high-profile hire from the United Nations and was working toward Microsoft’s bold claim that it will be carbon negative by 2030. Microsoft is now hiring Patterson’s replacement, just as Microsoft’s AI obsession is jeopardizing its climate ambitions.
• Now everyone can stream their own games in the Xbox PC app. All Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can now stream more than 250 games they own, including some Xbox console-only titles, from the cloud to the Xbox PC app. It’s part of Microsoft’s push to make Xbox games more accessible on PC, as well as its cross-device play history feature that’s arriving on console and PC soon.
• OneNote is finally getting a paste without formatting feature. Microsoft is adding a paste-text-only shortcut to OneNote soon, so that colors, styling, or font choices aren’t copied over when you paste text into the note-taking app. You’ll also be able to merge table cells soon, another highly requested feature. Both of these updates are available to Microsoft 365 Insiders right now, so they should start rolling out to all OneNote users in the coming months.
• Opera is filing a complaint over Microsoft’s tricks that push you to use Edge. Microsoft has used a variety of tricks to convince people to keep using the defaults of Bing and Microsoft Edge in Windows over the years, and now Opera is fed up. In a new complaint filed with Brazil’s competition authority, Opera accuses Microsoft of using “manipulative design tactics” to thwart browser competition. Opera was behind the EU complaint that eventually led to Microsoft’s browser ballot screen in Windows more than 15 years ago, so it will be interesting to see if it can convince regulators that Microsoft’s nag screens are anti-competitive.
• Microsoft has a Surface Laptop ‘Smurface Edition’ for Smurfs fans. Microsoft rarely does limited editions of its Surface products, but it has quietly launched a “Smurface Edition” in time for the Smurfs movie. I was expecting it to be a totally blue design, but instead Microsoft has laser-etched the Smurfs to the front, alongside a blue Surface logo. It’s a 13-inch Surface Laptop 7, but only 100 units are available exclusively at Amazon.

I’m always keen to hear from readers, so please drop a comment here, or you can reach me at notepad@theverge.com if you want to discuss anything else. If you’ve heard about any of Microsoft’s secret projects, you can reach me via email at notepad@theverge.com or speak to me confidentially on the Signal messaging app, where I’m tomwarren.01. I’m also tomwarren on Telegram, if you’d prefer to chat there.

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Microsoft is starting to test a new experimental Copilot Mode inside its Edge browser today. The AI-powered mode allows Copilot to search across all your open tabs and handle tasks like booking a restaurant, and it brings the Copilot chatbot to your new tab page.

Copilot Mode is somewhere between the limited Gemini integration that Google is testing in Chrome and the AI-powered overhaul that Comet offers with its AI browser. You can let Copilot see all your open tabs so you can ask it to compare a bunch of hotels you might be looking at or help summarize the best purchase from multiple product tabs.

Copilot in Edge also supports voice navigation to locate information on a website or to open tabs with products to compare. Microsoft is also planning to let Copilot, with your permission, access your Edge browser history and credentials so the chatbot can book reservations on your behalf.

These new Copilot features in Edge build on the existing integration of Microsoft’s AI assistant in its browser and the work the company has been doing with Copilot Vision. “Copilot will soon be able to guide you in your tasks and organize your browsing — past and present — into helpful, topic-based journeys,” says Sean Lyndersay, vice president of product for Microsoft Edge.

For those not interested in this AI-powered mode in Edge, Microsoft says it will be optional and you’ll be able to disable it. “With Copilot Mode, you can also choose to turn the experience on and off as you wish through your Edge settings,“ Lyndersay says. ”If you choose not to turn on Copilot Mode, you can continue to browse on Edge as usual.“

Microsoft is calling Copilot Mode an “experimental” feature that will evolve over time. It’s also “free for a limited time,” with usage limits on certain Copilot features. This suggests that Microsoft will eventually tie this new mode to some kind of subscription.

Microsoft will let Gamescom attendees play a demo of the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong on the new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. It’s part of more than 20 titles that will be available at the Xbox booth at Gamescom, including a new theater experience to demonstrate The Outer Worlds 2.

Silksong will be available to play on the new Xbox Ally devices at Gamescom, just months after Xbox president Sarah Bond revealed in June that Silksong will be available “at launch and in Game Pass” when Asus’ new handhelds launch later this year.

Gamescom attendees will also get to try out Microsoft’s new Xbox and Windows UI, as well as play Roblox, Sea of Thieves, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 on the new Xbox Ally handhelds. Grounded 2 will also be at Gamescom, as well as the first public hands-on of Ninja Gaiden 4.

We’ve been waiting three years to get a Silksong release date, after Microsoft originally said in 2022 that the sequel to the indie side-scrolling action platformer was coming within 12 months. A playable demo at Gamescom sure makes it even more likely that Silksong will debut later this year.

Microsoft is also fully revealing Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 during Opening Night Live at Gamescom on August 19th, as well as promising “a couple more surprises at the show from our partners too.”