Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has outrightly indicated that the company is shifting its focus from Bill Gates' software factory vision to zeroing in on intelligence, integration, and AI. It's no secret that the company has gone ham on AI, practically integrating generative AI across its entire tech stack.
In 2024, Microsoft insiders lamented about the company's obsession and fixation on AI, with a high-ranking executive referring to most Copilot AI tools as gimmicky.
According to a Microsoft insider:
"There is a delusion on our marketing side where literally everything has been renamed to have Copilot it in. Everything is Copilot. Nothing else matters. They want a Copilot tie-in for everything."
Earlier this week, multiple reports emerged online indicating that Microsoft had rebranded Office to Microsoft 365 Copilot. The reports have stirred up some confusion among users. But this isn't the case...
The confusion appears to stem from Microsoft’s Office.com domain. For context, the Office website was renamed to Microsoft 365 in 2022. In January 2025, the company rebranded the hub again to Microsoft 365 Copilot, allowing users to still leverage the platform to access core Office productivity suite apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, alongside Copilot.
As our news writer, Sean Endicott, puts it:
The new name is awkward and doesn't reflect the main reason people use Microsoft. While a Microsoft 365 subscription now includes Copilot and a bunch of other services, many still associate the service primarily with the Office apps.
"The Microsoft 365 Copilot app (formerly Office) lets you create, share, and collaborate all in one place with your favorite apps, now including Copilot," says the welcome message when visiting office.com.
While speaking to The Verge's Tom Warren, Microsoft 365's senior director of marketing indicated:
"We've not made any recent naming changes to our Office apps. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint — the office apps within the Microsoft 365 suite productivity suite — remain unchanged. In November 2022, we renamed only the Office 'hub' app for web and mobile to the Microsoft 365 app. In January 2025, we updated it to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app to reflect its role in bringing Copilot and Microsoft 365 productivity experiences in one place."
That said, Microsoft hasn’t rebranded Office as Microsoft 365 Copilot. The suite of apps remains available through the Microsoft 365 subscription, which has remained unchanged since its 2022 rebrand.
What are your thoughts on Microsoft's Copilot branding strategy? Let me know in the comments and vote in the poll!
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