Updates·October 31, 2026, 17:51

Copilot has become an everyday tool: Microsoft reports sharp growth in usage

AI-generated from the sources listed, with automated source checks.

According to Microsoft, far more people use Copilot daily than a year ago, and large companies are buying seats in bulk. The figures are Microsoft's own and come from its latest quarterly earnings report.

Microsoft's AI assistant Copilot is being used significantly more than a year ago. The company disclosed this in its earnings report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, which was reviewed on a call with investors.

According to Microsoft, the number of daily Copilot users has risen nearly 50 percent in a quarter and has more than quintupled compared with the same quarter a year earlier. However, Microsoft only discloses growth rates, not how many users are actually involved. It is also unclear which Copilot products the figure covers, for example Microsoft 365, GitHub or the consumer version.

Bigger customers, more tasks

Microsoft also says the number of customers with more than 50,000 Copilot seats has grown more than eightfold in a year. A seat is a license for one employee.

As an example, Microsoft cites Volkswagen. According to the company, the carmaker has announced plans to roll out Copilot to more than 330,000 employees. That is a plan, not something that has already happened.

Chief executive Satya Nadella said on the call that the number of automated tasks has nearly doubled since July. This means Copilot increasingly carries out tasks on its own rather than just answering questions. He also said user satisfaction rose almost 20 percent from the previous quarter to a record-high level. It is not stated how satisfaction is measured.

Auto mode and pay-as-you-go billing

There are also developments on the technical side. According to Microsoft, 90 percent of Copilot requests use a so-called Auto mode, which routes the task itself, meaning it sends it to wherever it can be handled best. For the user, this means not having to choose between different options.

The number of customers paying based on usage through credits also grew by more than 75 percent from the previous quarter.

The rest of the earnings report

Microsoft's total revenue for the quarter was $92.3 billion, up 19 percent. Microsoft Cloud, which includes cloud services, generated $63.9 billion in revenue, up 30 percent from a year earlier. Azure, Microsoft's cloud platform, grew 48 percent. Earnings per share were $4.89, up 18 percent.

All figures are Microsoft's own and have not been independently verified.