Yesterday, Microsoft released the Moment 4 update for Windows 11 devices and brought the artificial intelligence assistant Copilot. While Copilot is expected to launch globally, Microsoft has excluded the European Union (EU), at least temporarily, due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Earlier this month, the European Union placed Microsoft Windows on a "gatekeeper" list along with 22 other services. The EU believes that these services are promoting monopoly and do not focus on the best interests of customers.
In light of the new law, Microsoft has decided not to release Copilot in the EU until the company comes up with a DMA-compliant solution. Meanwhile, Microsoft confirmed it is working to implement changes to make Copliot compliant with the law:
The first markets for Copilot in Windows include North America, parts of Asia, and South America. The European Economic Area (EEA) will come online as soon as we provide services that comply with EEA rules.
Our goal is to make Copilot available in Windows in the European Economic Area as soon as possible, and a timeline is currently being developed.
We are setting an ambitious timetable to launch Copilot for Windows in the European Economic Area with full DMA compliance, and we will continue to work with the European Commission as these compliance efforts progress.
Microsoft has begun testing and implementing changes to bring certain services into full compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act by March 2024.
The EU earlier announced that companies providing services on the gatekeeper list will have six months to comply with the regulator's rules and promote fair digital practices. The EU also noted that companies that fail to comply will be fined up to 10% of their global annual turnover, with repeat offenders subject to fines of up to 20%. The Commission can also take structural remedies, forcing the sale of business units or making acquisitions.
While Microsoft is working on making changes to Copilot, there are still ways to enable the service if you live in the EU. As ComputerBase points out, EU users will need to download the Moment4 update. After installing the update, users can launch Copilot by opening Run (Windows+R) and typing "microsoft-edge://?ux=copilot&tcp=1&source=taskbar" (without quotes).
This does not enable Copilot by default on the device, so you will need to repeat the above steps each time you want to use Copilot. However, you can create a shortcut and run it with the same command to save time. Unfortunately, this is the only way to use Copilot in the EU until Microsoft reaches an agreement with EU regulators.