Microsoft has begun to implement its plan to stop support for the Cortana voice assistant in a separate application for Windows 11. A recent update to the application in the Microsoft Store, instead of adding new functionality, causes Cortana to stop working in the latest current OS from Microsoft. Apparently, the company will now be fully focused on its new product based on artificial intelligence, Windows Copilot.

As emphasized by the specialized resource WindowsLatest, citing a source familiar with the company’s plans, Cortana’s shutdown in Windows 10 may occur within a few days or the next week.

Cortana was the voice assistant of the Windows Phone era and first appeared on desktop computers with the release of Windows 10. This application was Microsoft’s answer to Siri in 2014, and the company even released several commercials aimed at criticizing a similar product from Apple.

For all the time of its existence, Cortana has not been able to gain sufficient popularity in the market, while the development of voice input systems in the same Android has tritely deprived Cortana of the main niche of application – due to the lack of its own mobile operating system, there was nowhere to implement it, unlike Siri.

The final point in the history of both Cortana and Siri was put by neural networks, in particular GPT-3 and GPT-4. Almost immediately after the start of its collaboration with OpenAI, Microsoft began work on the Copilot project, which was intended to be a truly “smart” assistant, unlike the “search” Cortana and Siri.

A wide release of Copilot, which aims to replace Cortana, is planned for the fall along with a large Windows 11 23H2 update package. Copilot also implements Office 365 in corporate and business solutions, but its use there will be available for a fee.