Microsoft's Copilot AI finally gets research capabilities: Check what's new
26 Mar 2025

Microsoft has added a new capability, "deep research," to its AI chatbot app, Microsoft 365 Copilot.

The new tool comes as part of a recent trend of deep research agents being integrated into chatbots. These include OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and xAI's Grok.

The technology powering these tools is called reasoning AI models, which can think through problems and fact-check themselves—critical skills for researching a topic thoroughly.

Copilot's deep research tools: Researcher and Analyst
Tool details

Microsoft's deep research tools, dubbed Researcher and Analyst, will supercharge Microsoft 365 Copilot's capabilities.

The Researcher tool integrates OpenAI's deep research model with sophisticated orchestration and search capabilities.

Microsoft says Researcher can perform analyzes like developing a go-to-market strategy or preparing a quarterly report for a client.

Meanwhile, Analyst, which is based on OpenAI's o3-mini reasoning model, is optimized for advanced data analysis.

Microsoft's deep research tools: Unique features and challenges
Tool capabilities

What differentiates Microsoft's deep research tools from the competition is their ability to tap into work data as well as the worldwide web.

For example, Researcher can leverage third-party data connectors to pull information from AI agents, tools, and apps like Confluence, ServiceNow, and Salesforce.

However, a major hurdle still lies in preventing these models from hallucinating or fabricating information.

Models like o3-mini and deep research aren't foolproof; they sometimes mis-cite work or draw incorrect conclusions from unreliable public websites.

Access to researcher and analyst through Frontier program
User access

In order to make these new tools accessible, Microsoft is introducing a new program called Frontier. Under this, customers of Microsoft 365 Copilot will be able to use Researcher and Analyst.

Those in the Frontier program—who will get experimental Copilot features first—will get access starting April.

This move highlights Microsoft's dedication to bolstering its AI chatbot capabilities with sophisticated research tools.