Microsoft says it isn’t using customer data from its Microsoft 365 apps to train its AI models. The clarification addresses reports circulating online in the last few weeks claiming Microsoft required Word and Excel users to opt out of training the company’s AI systems.

A tweet claiming that Microsoft Office uses the content of customer documents to train its AI systems raised a

Microsoft on Wednesday denied claims that it uses customer data from its Microsoft 365 applications, including Word and Excel, to train artificial intelligence models. The response came after some users pointed out on social media that the company requires users to opt-out of its "connected experiences" feature,

The setting in question 'only enables features requiring internet access like co-authoring a document,' Microsoft says.

Microsoft also promised to alert users “transparently” in the event of a change to how it handles consumer data for training GenAI models in Copilot. On the whole, the company

While vigilance in protecting your data is always advisable, the company assures that analytical connected experiences in Microsoft 365 simply search the internet or consult Micro

All of the recent hullabaloo surrounding Microsoft 365's 'connected experiences' has been a misunderstanding, per the company.