In a surprise move, Xbox is ditching parent company Microsoft\u2019s Copilot AI tech.<\/p>\n
Xbox boss Asha Sharma confirmed the news on X (Twitter), noting that the company \u201cwill begin winding down Copilot on mobile and will stop development of Copilot on console.\u201d Microsoft has been heavily pushing the AI-powered virtual companion across its portfolio, with Xbox having positioned the tech in recent months as a sort of gaming \u201csidekick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.
Today, we promoted leaders who helped build Xbox, while also bringing in new voices to help push us forward. This balance is important as we get the business\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2014 Asha (@asha_shar) May 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n In particular, the company envisioned Copilot as a way to help gamers<\/a> with such tasks as personalized game recommendations, in-game assistance and easier access to social features. Copilot came to the Xbox mobile app last May ahead of a planned console launch sometime later in 2026. Now, we know that will no longer happen.<\/p>\n On X, Sharma said Xbox \u201cwill begin to retire features that don\u2019t align with where we\u2019re headed,\u201d which we now know includes Copilot. Explaining the rationale behind this, Sharma said \u201cXbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.\u201d As part of this, the company has \u201cpromoted leaders who helped build Xbox\u201d and brought \u201cin new voices to help push us forward,\u201d which Sharma says will help \u201cget the business back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a shocking pivot from Xbox, given that Microsoft has been all-in on AI and investing tens of billions into the tech<\/a>. People have also been wary of how Sharma would approach AI in her new role as Xbox chief, given that she previously served as an executive in Microsoft\u2019s CoreAI division. Sharma, for her part, pushed back against these concerns<\/a>, promising to avoid \u201csoulless AI slop\u201d in games. (Ironically, \u201cAI slop\u201d is a term that her boss, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, wants us all to stop using<\/a>.) Therefore, it\u2019s a notable move from Sharma to scrap Xbox\u2019s Copilot plans.<\/p>\n That said, it\u2019s likely that AI will manifest in some other forms at Xbox, especially given that leadership shakeup that Sharma was talking about. According to CNBC<\/a>, those who have just joined the Xbox team include Jared Palmer (CoreAI vice president of product), Tim Allen (CoreAI vice president of design and research) and Evan Chaki (a general manager at CoreAI). While their roles largely seem to be focused on more general design and development, their background in CoreAI is certainly something that Sharma could leverage.<\/p>\n In any event, we\u2019ll have to wait to learn more. What we do know is that despite only starting to lead Xbox in February, Sharma has been quite busy, from teasing the next-gen Xbox console, \u201ccodenamed Project Helix<\/a>,\u201d to reducing the price of Xbox Game Pass<\/a>. All the while, she\u2019s been very candid about ushering in \u201cthe return of Xbox\u201d amid declining gaming revenue, and she even recently published a big mission statement<\/a> to outline how she intends to do that.<\/p>\n While she\u2019s acknowledged that many of these efforts will take time, we\u2019ll at least a bit more about some of Xbox\u2019s plans soon. On June 7, the company will hold its annual Xbox Games Showcase<\/a>, immediately followed by a presentation focused entirely on\u00a0Gears of War: E-Day\u00a0from Vancouver\u2019s The Coalition.<\/p>\n Image credit: Xbox<\/p>\n Source: Asha Sharma<\/a> (@asha_shar)<\/p>\n MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here<\/a>.<\/p>\n