SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) has

given its consumer Copilot, an artificial intelligence

assistant, a more amiable voice in its latest update, with the

chatbot also capable of analyzing web pages for interested users

as they browse.

The U.S. software maker now has "an entire army" of creative

directors - among them psychologists, novelists and comedians -

finessing the tone and style of Copilot to distinguish it,

Mustafa Suleyman, chief executive of Microsoft AI, told Reuters

in an interview.

In one demonstration of the updated Copilot, a consumer

asked what housewarming gift to buy at a grocery store for a

friend who did not drink wine. After some back-and-forth,

Copilot said aloud: "Italian (olive) oils are the hot stuff

right now. Tuscan's my go-to. Super peppery."

The feature rollout, starting Tuesday, is one of the first

that Suleyman has overseen since Microsoft ( MSFT ) created his division

in March to focus on consumer products and technology research.

Long identified with business software, Microsoft ( MSFT ) has had a

much harder road in the consumer realm. Its Bing search engine,

for instance, is still dwarfed by Google.

Suleyman is hoping for a bigger splash with Copilot, which

launched last year in a crowded field of AI chatbots, including

OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.

Copilot's newly fashioned voice capabilities make it seem

much more of an active listener, giving verbal cues like "cool"

and "huh," Suleyman said.

Underlying the product are Microsoft AI, or "MAI," models,

plus a technology suite from partner OpenAI, Suleyman said.

Suleyman added that consumers who spend $20 monthly for

Copilot Pro can start testing a "Think Deeper" feature that

reasons through choices, like whether to move to one city or

another.

He said an additional test feature for paying subscribers,

Copilot Vision, amounts to "digital pointing" - the ability for

users to talk to AI about what they see in a Microsoft Edge

browser. Consumers have to opt in, and the content they view

will not be saved or used to train AI, Microsoft ( MSFT ) said.

These updates represent "glimmers" of AI that can be an

"ever-present confidant, in your corner," Suleyman said. It's a

vision he articulated as CEO of Inflection AI, whose top talent

Microsoft ( MSFT ) poached in a closely watched deal this year.

Suleyman said that eventually, Copilot will learn context

from consumers' Word documents, Windows desktops, even their

gaming consoles if they grant permission.

Asked what Bill Gates, Microsoft's ( MSFT ) co-founder, thinks of the

company's AI efforts, Suleyman said Gates was excited.

"He's always asking me about when Copilot can read and parse

his emails. It's one of his favorite ones," Suleyman said.

"We're on the case."