Microsoft's AI assistant, Copilot, is struggling to match the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT, according to new data. While Microsoft’s Copilot has reached 79 million downloads globally, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has amassed a staggering 900 million downloads, placing it far ahead in the AI race. Google’s Gemini holds second place with 200 million downloads, and DeepSeek follows with 127 million. Despite significant investments, including an $80 billion spend on AI-powered data centers in fiscal year 2025, Microsoft’s Copilot remains fourth, indicating slower adoption compared to its competitors.

Copilot’s slow growth comes despite Microsoft’s aggressive strategy to dominate the AI space. The company has invested heavily in talent and infrastructure to support its AI roadmap, with a focus on making Copilot a more personalized AI assistant. In April, Microsoft introduced new features that allow Copilot to adapt more closely to individual users, with ambitions to create personalized, memory-enabled AI companions.

However, users and analysts have expressed concerns about Copilot’s performance. While built on OpenAI’s GPT models, Copilot has been criticized for falling short of ChatGPT in reasoning, creativity, and overall conversational quality. Additionally, features like memory and customization which Copilot touts as unique are already available in ChatGPT, raising questions about how much of an edge Copilot can claim.

Despite these challenges, Microsoft remains a dominant player in the enterprise AI market, thanks to its cloud services and productivity tools. However, when it comes to consumer-facing AI assistants, the company faces a steep uphill battle. The numbers suggest that Copilot has much ground to cover if it hopes to surpass ChatGPT in the AI race. As the field evolves rapidly, Microsoft’s future in AI may depend not only on investments but also on how well it can enhance the user experience and differentiate Copilot from the competition.