You can now try out Microsoft’s new AI-powered Xbox chatbot

Microsoft has been testing a new AI-powered Xbox chatbot, and now Xbox Insiders can try it out for the first time. I exclusively revealed the existence of this new “Xbox Support Virtual Agent” earlier this year, and Microsoft now says it’s designed “to help Xbox players more efficiently solve their support-related gaming issues.”

Xbox Insiders in the US can start trying out this new Xbox AI chatbot at support.xbox.com, and it will answer questions around Xbox console and game support issues. “We value the feedback from Xbox Insiders for this preview experience and any feedback received will be used to improve the Support Virtual Agent,” says Megha Dudani, senior product manager lead at Xbox.

This Xbox chatbot will appear as an AI character that animates when responding, or as a colorful Xbox orb. It’s part of a larger effort inside Microsoft to apply AI to its Xbox platform and services, ahead of some AI-powered features coming to Xbox consoles soon.

Unlike other parts of Microsoft, Xbox has been cautious in how it approaches AI features — despite a clear mandate from CEO Satya Nadella to focus all of Microsoft’s businesses around AI. Microsoft has largely focused on the developer side of AI tools so far, but that’s clearly changing with the introduction of a support chatbot.

I reported earlier this year that Microsoft is also working on bringing AI features to game content creation, game operations, and its Xbox platform and devices. This includes experimenting with AI-generated art and assets for games, AI game testing, and the generative AI NPCs that Microsoft has already partnered with Inworld to develop.