Published Feb 27, 2026, 1:28 PM EST
Dave Schafer is a passionate storyteller and tech enthusiast. He’s been writing professionally since 2014 and has covered a wide range of topics, from cable and internet providers to VPNs to web hosting. Dave’s work has been featured on publications like All About Cookies, SatelliteInternet.com, and HighSpeedInternet.com, among others.
As a writer, Dave enjoys taking complex topics and making them understandable and relatable to everyday readers — whether that’s exploring the intricacies of a VPN or helping someone choose a better piece of software.
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Summary
- Microsoft has announced its answer to OpenClaw: Copilot Tasks.
- Copilot Tasks runs in the cloud and can handle complex tasks, such as finding, comparing, and scheduling contractors.
- Compared to OpenClaw, Copilot Tasks should be safer but perhaps less capable, due to its sandboxed nature.
OpenClaw has caused quite the stir in the AI world over the last couple of months. And, unlike many things AI-related, the hype actually seems justified. However, while OpenClaw has some unique aspects, it's not the first agentic AI. Other companies have been working on this tech for a while, and this week we've had a couple of major announcements. The latest came yesterday with Microsoft's announcement of Copilot Tasks.
What is Copilot Tasks?
A Copilot that's actually useful
Copilot Tasks is essentially Microsoft's answer to OpenClaw. In other words, it's not just a chatbot — it's an agentic AI designed to execute complex tasks. Microsoft describes Copilot Tasks as "a to-do list that does itself." Here are some example use cases provided by Microsoft:
- Track new apartment listings every Friday and book showings.
- Turn a syllabus into a complete study plan with practice tests, and then block time to study before each exam.
- Turn emails, attachments, and images from your inbox into a slide deck with charts and talking points.
- Find top-rated plumbers near you, compare quotes, and book the best one.
Essentially, you describe what you need using natural language, and Copilot Tasks does it. The tool operates in the background in a sandboxed, cloud-based environment and reports back when it's done. It will ask for consent before taking certain actions, like spending money or sending a message. The tool certainly seems a lot more useful than the standard Copilot, which we've gone to great pains to remove.
How does Copilot Tasks compare to OpenClaw?
Trading safety for raw power
For all its powerful capabilities, OpenClaw is a bit of a security nightmare. The software runs locally on your device and requires unfettered access to it to function properly. This is perhaps the biggest difference with Copilot Tasks — instead of running locally, Tasks spins up its own cloud-based computer and browser.
Since it runs in the cloud, Copilot Tasks should be much safer than OpenClaw. With the latter, if someone manages to hijack the software, they get access to your entire device — and all the data on it. However, if someone were to inject prompts into Copilot Tasks, it would only have access to your Microsoft 365 and connected accounts. This is obviously still not great, but it's a lot better than having local access to your device.
The tradeoff here is that, without local access, Copilot Tasks will have more limited capabilities than OpenClaw. OpenClaw can access all data and apps on your device, whereas Copilot Tasks is limited to what lives in your Microsoft account (or other services that you give it permission to access).
Different use cases
At the end of the day, Copilot Tasks and OpenClaw will likely appeal to different users. Copilot looks great for general-purpose use and for those who live in Microsoft's ecosystem, either at work or at home. OpenClaw, on the other hand, may be better for developers and power users who are willing to tolerate the risk to gain more power.
Copilot Tasks is currently in a research preview stage and is not publicly available. If you're interested in trying it out, you can join the waitlist for an invite to the tool's testing program. There is no official date yet for a wider release.
English (US) · 
