🧠 Copilot Struggles, Mercedes' Teams Cam, Le Chat Upgrades

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🧠 Copilot Struggles, Mercedes' Teams Cam, Le Chat Upgrades

Plus: U.S. Targets Chinese Tech in Cables; TSMC Expands Fast.

Jose Montes de Oca

Jul 17, 2025

Transcript

Good morning. It’s Thursday, Jul 17. Today we are covering:

Microsoft's Copilot Challenge: 900 Million ChatGPT Downloads
Mercedes-Benz will let you use an in-car camera in Microsoft Teams while driving
Mistral's Le Chat chatbot gets a productivity push with new 'deep research' mode
US set to ban Chinese technology in submarine cables
TSMC to speed up construction of US chip plants by 'several quarters

Let’s dive in

Microsoft's Copilot Challenge: 900 Million ChatGPT Downloads

By Matt Day via Bloomberg

Microsoft has invested billions in promoting its Copilot AI assistant, but many users—including professionals like Tyson Jominy—find it intrusive or unintentionally triggered, rather than helpful.
Despite deep integration in Windows PCs, Copilot struggles with user engagement, especially compared to mobile-first tools like ChatGPT and Grok.
OpenAI's ChatGPT, with 900 million downloads, is significantly outpacing Copilot in consumer adoption, highlighting a major challenge for Microsoft's AI strategy.

Mercedes-Benz will let you use an in-car camera in Microsoft Teams while driving

By Tom Warren via The Verge

Mercedes-Benz will be the first automaker to allow drivers to use an in-car camera for Microsoft Teams video calls while the vehicle is in motion, though screen sharing and slide viewing will be disabled for safety.
The feature debuts in the new CLA as part of Mercedes’ summer productivity upgrades and will likely expand to other MB.OS-powered vehicles with built-in selfie cameras.
Mercedes and Microsoft are also working on integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot via voice control, aiming to turn the car into a “third workspace” for tasks like summarizing emails and managing calendars.

𝕏: here's how the Microsoft Teams app in select Mercedes-Benz cars works with the in-car camera while you're driving - Tom Warren (@tomwarren)

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Mistral's Le Chat chatbot gets a productivity push with new 'deep research' mode

By Rebecca Bellan via TechCrunch

Mistral has rolled out major upgrades to its Le Chat chatbot, including a new “deep research” mode that plans, clarifies, searches, and synthesizes information across the web—targeting both consumer and enterprise use cases.
The update adds native multilingual reasoning, improved image editing tools, and a Projects feature that organizes chats and files into workspaces with persistent settings.
Aimed at privacy-conscious sectors like banking and government, Le Chat Enterprise now supports on-premises data integration—positioning Mistral as a serious rival to OpenAI and Google in enterprise AI.

US set to ban Chinese technology in submarine cables

By Demetri Sevastopulo via Financial Times

The US government is preparing to ban Chinese technology from being used in undersea internet cables, citing growing concerns over national security and espionage.
The move is part of a broader effort to limit China’s access to critical global communications infrastructure, following similar actions in semiconductors and 5G networks.
The ban would impact companies like HMN Technologies, formerly Huawei Marine, and could reshape global subsea cable supply chains by excluding Chinese firms from US-linked projects.

𝕏: Banning use of Chinese kit in U.S.-connected submarine cables, which carry the vast majority of international internet traffic, is a smart security move by the FCC. (And also a reminder that the FCC has strong national security authorities)! - Peter Harrell (@petereharrell)

TSMC to speed up construction of US chip plants by 'several quarters

By Cheng Ting-Fang via Nikkei Asia

TSMC will accelerate construction of its second and third Arizona chip plants by “several quarters” to meet surging U.S. demand for AI and smartphone chips.
The company plans to eventually produce 30% of its most advanced chips—including 2-nanometer and smaller nodes—at the Arizona facilities.
TSMC has committed an additional $100 billion to expand its U.S. footprint, which includes five new sites and two chip packaging plants.

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