Microsoft Cortana
2014 - 2023, 9 years old
Microsoft's voice assistant for Windows, phones, and smart speakers, retired in favor of Copilot.
Cortana launched on Windows Phone in 2014 as Microsoft's answer to Siri and Google Now, named for the AI character in Halo. It expanded to Windows 10, iOS, Android, the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker, and the first Surface Headphones, then steadily retreated as Microsoft lost its phone bet and consumers picked Alexa instead. Microsoft shut the iOS and Android apps on March 31, 2021, ended Invoke support the same year, and announced in June 2023 that the standalone Windows app would be deprecated; the app stopped working on August 11, 2023. The remaining Cortana surfaces in Teams, Outlook mobile, and Microsoft 365 were retired through late 2023 and mid-2024, with Microsoft directing users to Copilot.
- Founded
- 2014-04
- Shut down
- 2023-08-11
- Funding raised
- Undisclosed
- Years alive
- 9
- Founders
- Microsoft