Microsoft’s Copilot is falling far behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the AI assistant race, despite billions invested and deep product integration across Windows and Microsoft 365.

According to data from Sensor Tower, the Copilot app has racked up 79 million downloads globally, compared to 900 million for ChatGPT.

This places Copilot fourth in global AI assistant rankings, trailing behind Google’s Gemini (200 million) and China’s DeepSeek (127 million).

Consumer adoption for Copilot has been lukewarm, despite Microsoft making it central to its AI strategy, rolling out versions tailored for work, development and personal use.

Users continue to report bugs, missing features and lacklustre performance.

Some basic functions, like increasing volume or opening Outlook, are still absent from the Windows Copilot experience.

Windows 11 24H2

Microsoft’s decision to separate work and personal versions of Copilot caused disruption for Android users, who lost default assistant functionality during the transition.

Meanwhile, competitors like ChatGPT have surged ahead with more polished, widely accessible mobile apps.

Microsoft’s consumer AI lead Mustafa Suleyman, a high-profile hire from DeepMind and Inflection, has driven features like visual analysis and more natural voice interaction. But user feedback suggests Copilot is a “nice-to-have,” not a must-have.

Despite the slow uptake, Copilot saw a 76% increase in monthly active users between April and June, reaching 23 million.

But with ChatGPT dominating both mindshare and mobile real estate, Microsoft’s consumer AI play is running out of time and patience.

As Microsoft has learned with Cortana and Bing, default integration far from guarantees success.