Nigerian-born English winger, Bukayo Saka has stressed that this could be the year his club, Arsenal, finally clinch the Premier League title after a 21-year drought.
Having finished as runners-up to Manchester City in the past two seasons, Arsenal are currently third in the league, tied on points with second-placed City and trailing leaders Liverpool by just a point after six games.
Bukayo Saka, who also experienced the disappointment of back-to-back European Championship final losses with England in 2021 and 2024, is determined to turn the tide and secure silverware this season.
The 23-year-old attributes his unwavering determination to previous near-misses and believes in Arsenal’s ability to compete at the highest level, as evidenced by their recent 2-0 Champions League victory over Paris St-Germain.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on us but I do think that this is the year [Arsenal win the title],” Saka told CBS Sports.
“I think we’ve been close the last two years and we’re getting closer, but this hopefully will be the year.”
In his interview with Amazon Prime, Saka added, “In previous years, I’ve come runners-up a lot. It’s just that spirit in me that I want to win this season and of course, I believe in myself a lot.
“With those two things, it helps. We believe in ourselves, we believe we’re a top team. We showed that tonight [against Paris St-Germain]. I did tell the boys we have to make a statement when big teams are coming to the Emirates.”
The Super Eagles caretaker coach, Augustine Eguavoen has emphasized the importance of having the right conditions in place for him to consider taking on the role permanently.
As he manages the team for the fourth time, he stressed the need for a long-term contract with patience and realistic clauses, acknowledging that consistent winning is not guaranteed in football.
“It will be a tough one. You have to give me a long-term contract with patience and clauses in that contract because winning is not guaranteed every week or day,” the 58-year-old coach told Brila FM.
“You will give me time to tweak the team till I find what I want.”
Despite the team’s current challenges in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Augustine Eguavoen expressed optimism about their chances.
Eguavoen believes that with a strong mentality and a positive approach, the Super Eagles can still turn their campaign around and secure their spot in the World Cup.
He emphasized the need for the players to treat every upcoming game as a crucial opportunity and to focus on securing victories, even by narrow margins, to achieve their objective.
“It has to be with positive thinking (for Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup),” Eguavoen said.
“We have to approach every game like a cup final, and we have a big chance once we keep winning these remaining games, even if it were by 1-0.”
Augustine Eguavoen is expected to lead Super Eagles of Nigeria in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers against Libya at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, on Friday, October 11, with the return leg set to be hosted in Benina four days later.
Italy is poised to simplify the process for foreigners applying for temporary work visas to meet the increasing demands of its labor market.
Plans are underway to increase the number of “Click Days”—the designated days when applications are accepted—making it easier for foreign workers to obtain visas, according to TravelBiz.
This change aims to address the country’s urgent need for skilled workers, as the current system has been insufficient in filling critical gaps in the labor market.
The proposal includes a shift away from the rigid quota and deadline-based approach, instead focusing on a more flexible system that aligns with Italy’s actual labor needs.
Maria Grazia Gabrielli, Secretary of the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Cgil), highlighted the limitations of the current “Click Day” system and called for reforms that reflect the real workforce demands in Italy.
Despite these efforts to ease the visa process, the government has ruled out any changes to the controversial Bossi-Fini Law, which governs Italy’s immigration policies.
This law mandates that non-EU nationals secure a job offer before arriving in the country and imposes strict requirements for residence permits.
It also grants authorities increased powers to deport undocumented migrants and penalizes employers who hire them.
Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano revealed that the government is preparing to present a decree law outlining these changes to the Council of Ministers soon.
While the proposed reforms aim to improve access to the Italian labor market for foreign workers, the key provisions of the Bossi-Fini Law will remain intact.
Alhaji Isa Rabiu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State, has asked former governor Nasir El-Rufai to be patient and allow a proper investigation to be conducted into his eight years administration in the state.
Rabiu spoke to Daily Post in Kaduna on Wednesday.
The PDP chieftain was reacting to El-Rufai’s claim that he did not steal public money during his time as Kaduna governor.
El-Rufai had said he is ready to swear with the Holy Quran to prove his innocence.
Reacting to El-Rufai’s assertion, Rabiu said, “Former governor El-Rufai should wait patiently for the final investigation before uttering anything against his predecessors or swearing with the Quran on what transpired during the eight years of his administration in Kaduna State.”
Rabiu observed that the same El-Rufai ‘arranged’ a petition against former governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, following which the Makarfi administration was investigated.
He added, “To be honest, from all indications, El-Rufai lacks discipline, self control and focus to do the right thing than swearing with holy Quran. The same El-Rufai ran away to a foreign country during the regime of late President Yar’Adua and only came back when the President died in 2010 and started making unnecessary utterances against the late President Yar’Adua.”
He called on the Kaduna State government, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and related offences Commission, ICPC, to investigate the former governor with a view to recovering what was stolen from the state during his tenure.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the federal government to review policies causing economic hardship in the country.
In a statement on the nation’s 64th independence anniversary, the PDP said Nigeria has never had it this bad.
President Bola Tinubu’s policies have driven petrol prices to record highs and depreciated the naira to record lows since he assumed the reins on May 29, 2023.
The party asked Nigerians “not to surrender” in the face of “emasculating policies”.
The opposition party said Nigerians should “reawaken the spirit of nationalism in defence of our democracy and national sovereignty against the emerging totalitarianism being foisted on our nation by the All Progressives Congress (APC)”.
“The Independence Day celebration is not the symbolic marching at parade grounds, taking of salutes, inspection of guards and making of speeches but it is the freedom of the citizens to express themselves, pursue legitimate endeavours and freely participate in the process to choose those who lead them through an unhindered expression of their will at elections,” the statement issued by Debo Ologunagba, PDP spokesperson, reads.
“The independence of a nation is embedded in the respect for the Rule of Law and constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens by a transparent and responsible government that is democratically elected, answerable and committed only to the good of the people.
“Since its calamitous arrival in the Nigerian political space, the APC continues to barefacedly stifle these fundamentals of our nation’s independence.
“It is, therefore, an irony that the APC deludes itself that Nigerians should celebrate independence whose essence has been completely diminished by the anti-people policies and programs of the APC that have not only discounted the lives of citizens but also deprived them of the independence to legitimately pursue their endeavours and freely participate in governance.”
The PDP alleged that the APC is not interested in the wellbeing of the people and is “returning our nation to a state of bondage, where the government is a cabal that has no respect for citizens but relishes in inflicting pain and hardship, where dissenting voices are treated as enemies of state”.
The party said citizens are being suppressed and exploited “through excruciating tariffs and taxes are now instituted as state policies”.
“It is indeed agonizing that all the gains achieved by the PDP in the development of our democracy and credible electoral process, personal freedom, liberty and security of citizens, good governance that resulted in better living standards and flourishing investments in education, healthcare, electricity, housing, railways and roads infrastructure, manufacturing, hospitality, real estate among others have all been reversed by the APC,” the party said.
The PDP said the APC-led administration must listen to Nigerians and “review all its anti-people policies and actions that are suffocating life in the country”.
“The Federal Government should, without further delay, reduce the pump price of fuel and stem the slide in the value of the Naira by immediately reordering resources to jumpstart the ailing productive sector,” PDP said.
“Again, the PDP urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to listen to the heartbeat of Nigerians.
“Indeed, Nigerians are hurting. He must act now by channelling resources to projects that have a direct bearing on the wellbeing of Nigerians so that the people can have the life they deserve as free citizens of an independent nation.”
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has granted an ex parte order to serve the Rivers State chairman of the Action People’s Party, APP, Sunny Wokekoro, the 23 chairmanship candidates of APP in the upcoming Saturday election, and the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, through substituted means.
Hart Badom, Destiny Omereji, and four others are in court seeking the reinstatement of Badom as the legitimate State Chairman of APP, while calling for the removal of Sunny Wokekoro from the position.
The plaintiffs are also challenging the legitimacy of the 23 chairmanship candidates, questioning when they became members of the APP in the state.
They are seeking a declaration that all actions taken by Wokekoro be considered null and void.
DAILY POST reports that when the case was mentioned, the plaintiffs’ counsel, Excel Omeghara, applied for an ex parte motion to serve the defendants through substituted means, a request that was granted by the presiding judge, Justice Emmanuel Obele.
APP has gained prominence in Rivers State in recent months, following its adoption as the platform for loyalists of Governor Siminalayi Fubara to contest the October 5 local government elections.
The APP’s chairmanship candidates, many of whom were formerly members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, switched to APP amid internal disputes within PDP in the state.
Although Governor Fubara is expected to automatically assume leadership of PDP upon taking office, as stipulated in the party’s constitution, his predecessor and political benefactor, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has refused to step aside, leading to a leadership crisis within the PDP.
Meanwhile, PDP in Rivers State announced its decision to boycott the upcoming local government elections.
State PDP Chairman Aaron Chikwuemeka reaffirmed this position during a press briefing in Port Harcourt last Monday.
Chikwuemeka and PDP state executive in Rivers remain loyal to FCT Minister Wike.
[DailyPost]
Some supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday protested outside the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) office in Edo.
The protesters chanted anti-establishment slogans and songs, while demanding a reversal of the result of the recent governorship poll.
They held aloft placards with inscriptions that read: ‘INEC give us our mandate back’, ‘APC stole PDP mandate and they must return it’, ‘INEC sack Edo state resident electoral commissioner’, and ‘INEC why did you manipulate IReV results’.
Police operatives could be seen milling around and guarding the gates of the office.
On September 22, Monday Okpebholo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared winner of the Edo governorship election.
Okpebholo, a serving senator, won the election with 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the PDP, who polled 247,274 votes.
Olumide Akpata, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), came a distant third with 22, 763 votes.
Before the final declaration, some PDP supporters staged a protest against the collation of the results outside the INEC office.
After the declaration, Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa and chairman of the PDP campaign council for the election, said the poll was marred by “vote-buying, disruption of collation processes, and suspicious results”.
“I weep for Nigeria’s democracy after witnessing the shameful Edo gubernatorial poll,” Fintiri had said.
Ighodalo has vowed to challenge the outcome of the election in court.
Governor Seyi Makinde’s government of Oyo State has announced a plan to recruit 791 new civil servants for the mainstream service.
The Chairman of the State Civil Service Commission, Alhaji Kamoru Aderibigbe, announced this on Wednesday in Ibadan during a press briefing.
Aderibigbe indicated that the recruitment will include the integration of 230 education officers along with 561 other positions into the mainstream civil service.
The government official noted that this recruitment would represent the largest intake into the mainstream civil service in the past twenty years.
Prospective candidates can submit their applications to the state government job portal at www.jobportal.oyostate.gov.ng from October 7 to October 11.
He highlighted that the online application process is designed to promote diligence, fairness, and equity throughout the recruitment procedure.
“Applicants into cadres requiring a degree must be university graduates with a minimum of second class honours division, while applicants into cadres that require Higher National Diploma certificate must be polytechnic graduates with a minimum of lower credit.
“All university and polytechnic graduates must possess NYSC discharged certificates or exemption certificates as at the time of the recruitment process.
“Equally, applicants into cadres requiring the Nigeria Certificate in Education must be graduates with a minimum of merit,” he said.
Aderibigbe said that the commission would ensure competence in discharging its duties without any political interference.
The Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Chinyere Almona, has criticized President Bola Tinubu for calling on citizens to exercise patience with his administration while the politicians are living big.
Dr. Chinyere Almona said the President is not being sincere with the citizens. She decried that politicians are living more comfortably than manufacturers who are producing and creating jobs for the citizens.
In an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday, Mrs. Almona explained that the country’s environment is not business-friendly.
While admitting that Nigeria is full of opportunities, she noted that the youths who need jobs cannot harness the opportunities because of corruption, inflation, high interest rates and unfavourable policies of the government.
The LCCI DG said, “I think in most sectors in Nigeria there is opportunity to drive development. What has been lacking is the ease of doing that. So you have a lot of businesses, you have a lot of entrepreneurs who want to go into business. Even the young ones, like we talked about just now, they want to go into business, start their own business, employ people and do so much more in the different sectors. But they are hampered by several things.
“They are hampered by regulation and the fact that regulation stifles rather than promotes. They are hard hit by the inflation, they are hard hit by inability to access finance and the fact that interest rate is so high. They are hard hit by just the basic difficulty in living. And so it just then makes it challenging to operate.
“There are opportunities. I think Nigeria is filled with opportunities. We are rich with opportunities in the different sectors. In mining, there are opportunities in agriculture, there are opportunities. But the private sector isn’t allowed to move. And so you have situations where companies are leaving Nigeria and they are increasing the rate of unemployment because every factory that shuts down, you shove 50,000 people into the employment market. So that’s what the challenge is.
“There are opportunities, but how do we harness those opportunities? How does the government create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive? I was listening to the President’s speech today and he talked about how he wants to harness the youth and the energy of the youth, how he wants to bring them together, how he wants to create jobs. Bringing youth together to talk is great, but then after the talk, then what next?”
Speaking on the 30 days National Youth Conference announced by the President in his Independence Day broadcast, Mrs Almona noted that unless policies are made to create ease of doing business, the result of the conference may not have much effect.
She added that the country’s problem remains leadership, stating that everything falls and rises on the back of leadership.
“So if you have a conference, after the conference, what next? Have you created an enabling environment for them to thrive? The environment is still rife with corruption. And when you have corruption, that means people don’t get the right opportunities or the right access to the right avenues that they need to succeed.
“Leadership is a problem. Leadership, everything falls and rises on the back of leadership, and we need to get leadership right. Today, with the hard economic conditions, we want to see, and what the President did say, oh, we should be patient and watch and wait for the reforms to kick in and begin to give us some positive vibes, as it were.
“I think about it, and the private sector is bleeding. The youth are struggling. But the political circles are living big. We see them all the time. We see them on social media. We see them in the media. They don’t seem bothered. They don’t seem affected by the hardship that Nigerians are facing. And that is a real problem, where you have the political sect being richer than the private sector, who are in the production area. That’s a problem. We need to support production. We need to power production as much as possible,” Dr Almona added.
The House of Representatives has rejected the National Honour conferred on Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.
The lawmakers accused President Bola Tinubu of discriminating against the lower chamber of the National Assembly after conferring a higher honour to Senate PresidentGodswill Akpabio.
Naija News reported earlier that President Tinubu, while addressing the nation to mark Nigeria’s 64th Independence Anniversary celebration, stated that the Senate President,Akpabio and Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun had been conferred with honour of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
Others mentioned for awards include the Deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Abbas and Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau were conferred with the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), respectively.
However, following a motion of urgent public importance moved by Philip Agbese on Wednesday, the House resolved the Reps are not inferior to Senators, and therefore, both leaders should be treated equally.
The motion, signed by 360 members of the House, called for the abolition of the “upper chamber and lower chamber nomenclature”, stating that both chambers are equal.
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FORMER President of the Senate, Senator David Mark has taken stock of Nigeria’s tortuous journey to nationhood and submitted that the time calls for sober reflection as the country celebrates its 64th independence anniversary, saying that this is the time for serious introspection by President dent Bola Tinubu and other leaders.
In a goodwill message to Nigerians, Senator Mark reflected on the journey so far and noted that despite the challenges of insecurity, poverty, disease, and general underdevelopment, Nigeria is endowed with human and natural resources capable of changing the tide for good, adding that this is achievable if all citizens are patriotic and united with a common mission and purpose.
In a statement by his Media Adviser, Paul Mumeh, Senator Mark said, “Disappointing as the situation may seem, the shortcomings of the past should serve as useful lessons for progress. We must learn from our past mistakes and work towards a better future.”
The former President of the Senate recalled the 30-month-old fratricidal civil war, occasional ethnoreligious conflicts and the uncertainties surrounding political engagements, saying that all these issues are traceable to inadequacies of leadership and citizens’ failure.
Senator Mark who cautioned against divisive tendencies and inflammatory statements in recent times that tend to exacerbate the already fragmented atmosphere, said, “Those who exploit our fault lines of ethnicity and religious differences to promote hatred are enemies of the country”.
Despite the challenges, Senator Mark noted that Nigeria has made progress in some areas pointing out that, “though we are not yet where we should be, we are certainly better than yester years. This should serve as motivation for us to continue working towards a better Nigeria.”
The former Senate President who emphasized that political leaders should lead by example and strive to put the citizens at the centre of their programmes and policies, said, “Leaders must prioritize the needs and well-being of the people.”
Senator Mark was optimistic that Nigeria could come out of its current challenges if all Nigerians resolved to bury the hatchet of yesterday, “We must unite and work together to address our challenges”.
To further address the challenges of underdevelopment, Senator Mark advocated for huge investments in enterprises and production that would improve income and end capital flights.
He stated, “We need to create an environment where everyone can ply his or her trade in any part of the country without fear of intimidation or molestation. We need to be our brother’s keeper at all times. I wish Nigerians a prosperous nation.”
[Vanguard]
President Bola Tinubu has left Abuja, the nation’s capital, for a two-week vacation in the United Kingdom, which is part of his annual leave.
Naija News reports the President left the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at about 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, along with Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, and other top government officials, were at the airport to bid farewell to the president.
See the video.
Media
The United States (US) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Olayinka Oyebola, a Nigerian auditor, for allegedly aiding and abetting securities fraud reportedly carried out by Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Tingo Group, and three companies controlled by him.
In a statement on Monday, the SEC also charged Oyebola’s accounting firm, Olayinka Oyebola & Co. (chartered accountants), registered with the public company accounting oversight board (PCAOB).
“The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Olayinka Oyebola and his Public Company Accounting Oversight Board-registered accounting firm, Olayinka Oyebola & Co. (Chartered Accountants), with aiding and abetting a massive securities fraud perpetrated by Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye, also known as Dozy Mmobuosi, and three related U.S. companies that Mmobuosi controlled (the Tingo entities),” the SEC said.
“The SEC recently obtained a $250 million final judgment against Mmobuosi and the Tingo entities.”
According to the SEC’s complaint, Oyebola and his firm deliberately failed to act after discovering that Mmobuosi and his companies created multiple fake audit reports which bore Oyebola’s signature and were included in SEC filings as if issued by his firm.
‘OYEBOLA ASSISTED IN CONCEALING FRAUDULENT REPORTS’
The SEC alleged that Oyebola made material misstatements to the then-auditor of one of the Tingo entities and assisted in concealing the fraudulent reports, causing auditors, investors, and regulators to rely on these fake reports to their detriment.
The commission said Oyebola and his firm’s assistance enabled Mmobuosi and the Tingo entities to carry out a multi-year scheme to inflate financial metrics that defrauded investors globally.
Antonia Apps, director of the SEC’s New York regional office, said as alleged, Oyebola and his firm violated the public trust and gave up their responsibilities as public company accountants and auditors by helping Mmobuosi and the Tingo entities effectuate and conceal their fraud.
“We will not hesitate to hold gatekeepers to the public markets accountable when they facilitate fiction rather than truth,” Apps said.
The complaint, filed in the US district court for the southern district of New York, charges Oyebola and his firm with aiding and abetting violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws by Mmobuosi and three Tingo entities.
The SEC also charged Oyebola with aiding and abetting Mmobuosi in lying to auditors.
The complaint seeks civil penalties as well as permanent injunctive relief including an order permanently barring Oyebola and his firm from acting as auditors or accountants for US public companies or assisting in the preparation of financial statements for SEC filing.
“The ongoing investigation is being conducted by Michael DiBattista, Christopher Mele, Jeremy Brandt, Gerald Gross, and Rebecca Reilly under the supervision of Tejal D. Shah,” the SEC said.
“It is being litigated by David Zetlin-Jones and Mr. DiBattista under the supervision of Alexander Vasilescu, all of the New York Regional Office.
“The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Israel Securities Authority.”
On December 18, 2023, the SEC charged Mmobuosi for providing “false information to investors,” and “orchestrating a staggering fraud”.
Two days later, Mmobuosi temporarily stepped down as Tingo Group’s co-CEO.
A month before he stepped down, the SEC suspended trading in the securities of Tingo Group.
A US federal court, on September 1, fined Mmobuosi the sum of $250 million in monetary relief in a securities fraud suit default judgment.
The default judgment was given by Jesse M. Furman, a US judge, who said Mmobuosi and his companies failed to respond to an SEC lawsuit accusing them of overstating financial results.
[TheCable]
‘Comfortable, fun, familiar’: Why Microsoft is trying to turn its AI chatbot into a digital friend
Admin
Artificial intelligence chatbots have been billed as productivity tools for consumers — they can help you plan a trip, for example, or give advice on writing a confrontational email to your landlord. But they often sound stilted or oddly stubborn or just downright weird.
And despite the proliferation of chatbots and other AI tools, many people still struggle to trust them and haven’t necessarily wanted to use them on a daily basis.
Now, Microsoft is trying to fix that, by focusing on its chatbot’s “personality” and how it makes users feel, not just what it can do for them.
Microsoft on Tuesday announced a major update to Copilot, its AI system, that it says marks the first step toward creating an “AI companion” for users.
The updated Copilot has new capabilities, including real-time voice interactions and the ability to interpret images and text on users’ screens. Microsoft also says it’s one of the fastest AI models on the market. But the most important innovation, according to the company, is that the chatbot will now interact with users in a “warm tone and a distinct style, providing not only information but encouragement, feedback, and advice as you navigate life’s everyday challenges.”
The changes could help Microsoft’s Copilot stand out in a growing sea of general-purpose AI chatbots. When Microsoft launched Copilot, then called Bing, early last year, it was seen as a leader among its big tech peers in the AI arms race. But in the intervening 18 months, it’s been leapfrogged by competitors with new features, like bots that can have voice conversations, and easily accessible (albeit imperfect) AI integrations with tools people already use regularly, like Google Search. With the update, Copilot is catching up with some of those capabilities.
When I tried out the new Copilot Voice feature at Microsoft’s launch event Tuesday, I asked for advice on how to support a friend who is about to have her first baby. The bot responded with practical tips, like providing meals and running errands, but it also provided more touchy-feely advice.
“That’s exciting news!” the tool said in an upbeat male voice — Copilot is designed to subtly mirror users’ tone — that the company calls Canyon. “Being there for her emotionally is a big one. Listen to her, reassure her and be her cheerleader … Don’t forget to celebrate this moment with her.”
An AI companion
Copilot’s update reflects Microsoft’s vision for how everyday people will use AI as the technology develops. Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman contends that people need AI to be more than a productivity tool, they need it to be a kind of digital friend.
“I think in the future, the first thought you’re going to have is, ‘Hey, Copilot,’” Suleyman told CNN in an interview ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.
“You’re going to ask your AI companion to remember it, or to buy it, or to book it, or to help me plan it, or to teach me it … It’s going to be a confidence boost, it’s going to be there to back you up, it’s going to be your hype man, you know?” he said. “It’s going to be present across many, many surfaces, like all of your devices, in your car, in your home, and it really will start to live life alongside you.”
The earlier iteration of the Microsoft AI chatbot received some backlash for unexpected changes in tone and sometimes downright concerning responses. The bot would start off an interaction sounding empathetic but could turn sassy or rude during long exchanges. In one instance, the bot told a New York Times reporter he should leave his wife because “I just want to love you and be loved by you.” (Microsoft later limited the number of messages users can exchange with the chatbot in any one session, to prevent such responses.)
Some experts have also raised broader concerns about people forming emotional attachments to bots that sound too human at the expense of their real-world relationships.
To address those concerns while still developing Copilot’s personality, Microsoft has a team of dozens of creative directors, language specialists, psychologists and other non-technical workers to interact with the model and give it feedback about the ideal ways to respond.
“We’ve really crafted an AI model that is designed for conversation, so it feels more fluent, it’s more friendly,” Suleyman told CNN. “It’s got, you know, real energy … Like, it’s got character. It pushes back occasionally, it can be a little bit funny, and it’s really optimizing for this long-term conversational exchange, rather than a question-answer thing.”
Suleyman added that if you tell the new Copilot that you love it and would like to get married, “it’s going to know that that isn’t something it should be talking to you about. It will remind you, politely and respectfully, that that’s not what it’s here for.”
And to avoid the kinds of criticisms that dogged OpenAI over a chatbot voice that resembled actor Scarlett Johansson, Microsoft paid voice actors to provide training data for four voice options that are intentionally designed not to imitate well-known figures.
“Imitation is confusing. These things aren’t human and they shouldn’t try to be human,” Suleyman said. “They should give us enough of a sense that they’re comfortable and fun and familiar to talk to, while still being separate and distant … that boundary is how we form trust.”
More new Copilot features
Building on the voice feature, the new Copilot will have a “daily” feature that reads users the weather and a summary of news updates each day, thanks to partnerships with news outlets like Reuters, the Financial Times and others.
Microsoft has also built Copilot into its Microsoft Edge browser — when users need a question answered or text translated, they can type @copilot into the address bar to chat with the tool.
Power users who want to experiment with features still in development will have access to what Microsoft is calling “Copilot Labs.” They can test new features like “Think Deeper,” which the company says can reason through more complex questions, and “Copilot Vision,” which can see what’s on your computer screen and answer questions or suggest next steps.
After some backlash over privacy risks with a similar AI tool it released for Windows earlier this year, called Recall, Microsoft says Copilot Vision sessions are entirely opt-in and none of the content it sees is stored or used for training.