Copilot Cowork adds 'Critique' + 'Model'
Microsoft rolled out Copilot Cowork (early access) with smarter Researcher tools — new 'Critique' and 'Model' features help spot weak points and simulate outcomes before execution inside Microsoft 365. For founders, that means built‑in idea review and scenario simulation inside your docs and slides, useful for pitch prep or market tests. (digitaltrends.com)
Microsoft expanded Copilot Cowork into early access through its Frontier program on March 30, 2026, after first introducing Cowork on March 9 as part of its Copilot roadmap. (techcommunity.microsoft.com) (microsoft.com) Researcher's new "Critique" workflow explicitly separates generation and evaluation by running a draft from one model to a second model for review, and Microsoft confirmed the current pipeline routes GPT drafts through Anthropic's Claude for checks. (techcommunity.microsoft.com) (blockport.io, microsoft.com) The release also adds a "Council" or Model Council capability that displays side‑by‑side outputs from multiple models so users can compare answers and pick the most suitable result inside Researcher. (techcommunity.microsoft.com) (microsoft.com, windowsreport.com) Copilot Cowork is built to plan and execute long‑running, multi‑step workflows across Outlook, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft 365 apps by grounding actions in a user's files, calendar, and enterprise graph. (microsoft.com) (microsoft.com, venturebeat.com) Microsoft said Cowork inherits Microsoft 365 enterprise security and governance controls and includes built‑in checkpoints for human approval during autonomous tasks. (microsoft.com) (microsoft.com, reworked.co) The company framed these updates as part of a "Wave 3" push that purposely blends models from partners including OpenAI and Anthropic to boost verification, reduce errors, and give businesses model choice for research and execution. (msn.com) (reuters.com, msn.com, microsoft.com)
