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Microsoft abandons personal AI chatbot race with Copilot reboot

157 points · 154 comments · sbulaev

  1. 2OEH8eoCRo0 · · focus · HN ↗
    Still can't believe they ditched the Cortana name.
    1. rm_-rf_slash · · focus · HN ↗
      Nah it makes sense. They know their AI is second rate at best. Cortana implies 26th century excellence. If the reality is a step back (and we all know it’s several), then “haha Cortana dumb” memes would sweep the internet. They would have to rebrand anyway. If anything it was smart to rip off the band aid early.
      1. VCFundedGenYer · · focus · HN ↗
        No, it doesn't make sense. Cortana was a fantastic name for an assistant, and synergistic with Halo at the time.

        The low quality of the voice assistant was unfortunate, but the naming was perfect.

        1. Kirby64 · · focus · HN ↗
          The low quality of the voice assistant meant they doomed the Cortana name. It got associated with garbage voice assistance, so they had to rebrand.

          If there had been consumer good will for voice assistant performance before poisoning the name, it might have survived... but when you first product in that realm is garbage and it lingers for a long time, you're dooming the name.

          Also, synergy with Halo is meaningless to Microsoft. Most folks do not care or even know about Halo.

          1. 2OEH8eoCRo0 · · focus · HN ↗
            Why isn't the Siri name poisoned for being terrible?
            1. rolosa · · focus · HN ↗
              It has. Literally nobody outside of tech bloggers like Siri AI or want Siri AI. I'm pretty positive on AI in general and having used Siri AI now since iOS 27 I can say it's fucking useless and I'm about to delete it from my devices to free up the storage.
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