Short answer: Microsoft Copilot Autopilot: Microsoft's persistent, proactive and personal agent (formerly Scout): give it a name, a role and a goal and it keeps working in the cloud inside your Microsoft 365 tenant, even when you are not. Gemini Agent: Google Cloud's universal work agent: give it objectives, not instructions. It works across Workspace and third-party channels and can create coworker agents with their own Workspace identity.
Microsoft Copilot Autopilot vs Gemini Agent
Sourced facts only. “Unknown” means not verified yet.
Key facts side by side
| Criterion | Microsoft Copilot Autopilot | Gemini Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Type | business agent | business agent |
| Vendor | Microsoft | Google Cloud |
| Channels / category | Microsoft 365: Teams, Outlook, chats, channels and documents (you @mention it like a colleague); cloud-hosted in your tenant | Web, iOS, Android, Windows and Mac desktop, command line, Google Workspace, Slack, Microsoft 365 (per Google's keynote adaptation and 9to5Google) |
| Pricing / availability | Private preview (expanding from end of September 2026); no public sign-up or general availability date published. Runs on usage-based billing (Copilot Credits); Autopilot-specific prices not published | Private preview. Included at no additional charge for Gemini Enterprise customers, including existing Workspace business and enterprise plans (per Implicator); charges for persistent coworkers or long autonomous tasks not yet published |
| Launched | 2026-09-25 | 2026-10-08 |
| Funding (reported) | n/a (Microsoft product) | n/a (Google Cloud product) |
| Channels confirmed | Microsoft Teams, Email | Unknown |
| Verified facts | Announced 25 Sep 2026 as 'a persistent, proactive and personal agent that keeps working even when you're not'; previously called Scout; Give it a name, a role and a goal: it watches channels, follows up on threads, runs recurring work and picks a project back up days later without waiting for a prompt; Cloud-hosted in your Microsoft 365 tenant with its own identity, memory, computer and workspace, built on Microsoft IQ; Works in Teams, Outlook, chats, channels and documents; you @mention it like a colleague, with permissions, audit and governance behind it; Runs on usage-based billing alongside Copilot Cowork and Code; admins can set spending policies in Agent 365; Built on the open-source OpenClaw agent runtime; Microsoft contributes policy-conformance checks upstream; Scout was introduced at Build in June 2026 as Microsoft's first Autopilot agent; Microsoft says Autopilots will also come to consumers (PCMag, 25 Sep 2026); Private preview expanding from end of September 2026, with no public sign-up or general availability date (Witivio analysis, Oct 2026) | Announced 8 Oct 2026 at Gemini at Work 2026 as a universal agent for work; 'You give it objectives, not instructions': delegate an outcome and come back to finished work (Thomas Kurian keynote); Runs each job on the best-fitting model, across Gemini and Anthropic's Claude models today; Coworker agents get their own Workspace account (email, calendar, Drive, directory entry) and act under their own identity; Works inline in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Chat; mention @Gemini to invoke it; Hard spend caps in the Cloud Billing Console pause a project's agent when reached; In private preview; wide availability soon for select Workspace Business and Enterprise plans |
| Website | https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2026/09/25/introducing-the-new-copilot-with-home-code-and-autopilot/ | https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/infrastructure-and-cloud/google-cloud/gemini-at-work/ |
| Sources | [1] [2] [3] [4] | [1] [2] [3] [4] |
| Last checked | 2026-11-11 | 2026-11-11 |
Frequently asked questions
What is Microsoft Copilot Autopilot?
Microsoft's persistent, proactive and personal agent (formerly Scout): give it a name, a role and a goal and it keeps working in the cloud inside your Microsoft 365 tenant, even when you are not.
What is Gemini Agent?
Google Cloud's universal work agent: give it objectives, not instructions. It works across Workspace and third-party channels and can create coworker agents with their own Workspace identity.
How much does Microsoft Copilot Autopilot cost?
Private preview (expanding from end of September 2026); no public sign-up or general availability date published. Runs on usage-based billing (Copilot Credits); Autopilot-specific prices not published
How much does Gemini Agent cost?
Private preview. Included at no additional charge for Gemini Enterprise customers, including existing Workspace business and enterprise plans (per Implicator); charges for persistent coworkers or long autonomous tasks not yet published
Are Microsoft Copilot Autopilot and Gemini Agent the same type of agent?
Microsoft Copilot Autopilot is listed as a business agent and Gemini Agent as a business agent.
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