Microsoft's Super Bowl message: We're an AI company now

Microsoft on Sunday is returning to the Super Bowl with a commercial for its AI-powered chatbot — a sign of the company's determination to shed its image as a stodgy software maker and reorient its products around the promise of artificial intelligence.

The minute-long commercial, posted to YouTube on Thursday, depicts people using their mobile phones to access Copilot, the AI assistant Microsoft rolled out last year. The app is shown helping people to automate a variety of tasks, from generating snippets of computer code to creating digital art.

Microsoft's Super Bowl spot, its first appearance in the game in four years, highlights the company's efforts to reinvent itself as an AI-focused company. The tech giant has poured billions into developing its AI prowess, including investing $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019, and has integrated the technology into mainstay products like Microsoft Word, Excel and Azure.