Copilot is finally coming to the GCC environment, but is Microsoft up to the task?

After teasing it earlier this year, Microsoft is finally bringing Copilot to the GCC environment in December, as we spotted in a recent entry to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap. The GCC (Government Community Cloud) environment encompasses all Government-Based customers for whom Microsoft already provides most of its 365 Suite and more.

The entry says Copilot for the GCC environment will be available in Teams (chat and channels), but will exclude the platform’s Compose section. It will also be available on Outlook (including the mobile version), Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and other Microsoft-based surfaces.

There is no preview scheduled, and the rollout is starting in December. Here’s what the entry says:

Bringing Microsoft 365 Copilot GCC, your AI assistant for work in the GCC environment. It combines the power of Large Language Models with your work content and context, to help you draft and rewrite, summarize and organize, catch up on what you missed, and get answers to questions via open prompts. Copilot generates answers using the rich, people-centric data and insights available in the Microsoft Graph. Microsoft 365 Copilot GCC is available in Teams (Chat and Channel) excluding Compose, Outlook (includes mobile), Word, PowerPoint, and Excel as well as other surfaces, including microsoft365.com.

Is Microsoft up to the task, though? We all know about the tech giant’s numerous security issues, and its being one of the most targeted companies in the world does not add to the amazement.

We’re talking about the GCC environment, where, naturally, quite sensible files with a lot of sensitive data are stored. And it is quite risky for Copilot to have access to them to provide these customers with summarizations, drafts, and so on.

However, the Redmond-based tech giant says it’s alright. In a blog post, the company prepared a lengthy plan that includes a list of Top priorities and phased rollouts of features so that Copilot can be used in 100% safe and secure situations.

According to this plan, Copilot will be integrated into 365 Apps such as Stream, OneNote, and Planner in 2025. Until then, it will be gradually released to the more important apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. It will use a GCC user’s Graph data, meaning Copilot won’t query the web to get live real-time web content.

It’ll be interesting to see if Copilot in GCC environments is as safe as Microsoft claims. I guess we’ll have to live and see.