In an attempt to gain a competitive edge in the field of AI chatbots, Microsoft has spent billions on artificial intelligence. However, in terms of user downloads, its chatbot, Copilot, has trailed far behind its rivals in spite of these enormous investments. Although Copilot has received 79 million downloads, which is a significant amount, ChatGPT has received over 900 million downloads, which is ten times as many as Copilot. This notable disparity emphasises how difficult it is for Microsoft to control the AI chatbot market.
Additionally, Copilot’s download counts put it behind its rivals in the market. Both DeepSeek (127 million downloads) and Google’s Gemini (200 million downloads) have surpassed Microsoft’s product. Copilot is still unable to compete on the same level as ChatGPT, which is still the undisputed leader in the race, even though its numbers are higher than those of some of its smaller rivals.
Many users have expressed concerns regarding the quality of Microsoft’s AI in comparison to ChatGPT, so this disparity in popularity is not surprising. Even though the tech giant has made significant investments in AI—Microsoft is expected to spend $80 billion on data centres related to AI in fiscal year 2025—the company is still lagging behind. Additionally, Microsoft has been providing employees working on AI projects—particularly those creating Copilot—with high salaries and retention bonuses.
In an effort to provide a more personalised user experience, Microsoft has kept announcing updates to enhance the automation and personalisation capabilities of its chatbot. Though noteworthy, these features aren’t wholly novel to the market because ChatGPT already provides a high degree of customisation.
Despite the potential benefits of Microsoft’s AI investment, the company will have a difficult time overtaking ChatGPT, which continues to lead in both downloads and user engagement.