Microsoft Build 2026 introduces 'Autopilot' agents and unified Microsoft IQ

Microsoft's Build 2026 developer conference opened on June 2 with the unveiling of Microsoft IQ, a unified intelligence layer the company says will tie together its various AI services — spanning workplace data, organizational knowledge, business semantics and live web grounding — into a single framework for building agents. The keynote also introduced 'Autopilots,' a new category of always-on AI agents designed to operate independently with their own identity and carry out tasks on a user's behalf without constant supervision. Separately, Microsoft confirmed that OpenAI's GPT-5.5 has reached general availability inside Microsoft Foundry, alongside a premium GPT-5.5 Pro tier. The announcements collectively signal Microsoft's push to move AI agents from limited demos into everyday enterprise workflows.