Microsoft is removing Mico, the animated yellow avatar used in Copilot’s voice mode, less than a year after its launch. The move marks another retreat from a prominent Microsoft virtual assistant character and forms part of wider changes to Copilot’s product strategy and leadership.

Mico was introduced in October 2025 to give Copilot a more expressive identity, responding with real-time facial expressions and animations. Microsoft will remove it gradually and move it to its Learn Live platform, saying the character helped it understand how users want to interact with AI. The change coincides with plans to merge Copilot with Microsoft 365 Copilot and follows a management reshuffle in which Jacob Andreou took charge of Copilot.