Tom Warren is a senior editor and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years.
Microsoft has enabled a new “computer use” feature for Copilot Studio this week that lets AI agents interact with websites and desktop applications. Much like OpenAI’s Operator or Claude’s identically named “computer use” feature, businesses will be able to use Copilot Studio to build AI agents that treat websites and desktop apps as if they’re tools for automating tasks.
“Computer use enables agents to interact with websites and desktop apps by clicking buttons, selecting menus, and typing into fields on the screen,” explains Charles Lamanna, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s business & industry Copilot. “This allows agents to handle tasks even when there is no API available to connect to the system directly. If a person can use the app, the agent can too.”
Copilot Studio will be able to create AI agents that can automate data entry, perform market research, or even process invoices. This new tool will even detect when buttons and screens change in apps or websites and continue working without failing or breaking, according to Microsoft.
Microsoft added a similar feature, dubbed Actions, to its consumer Copilot earlier this month. Actions can be performed in the background while you work on other tasks. Copilot can now do things like book restaurant reservations, event tickets, and purchase items from online stores. The Actions experience is limited to a number of partners though, and it sounds like Copilot Studio will be free to work with more websites and apps.
