Microsoft’s week has been a study in contrasts. While the company made strategic moves to address enterprise concerns—expanding Copilot’s data sovereignty capabilities and adding voice commands to its AI assistant—it also faced fallout from security vulnerabilities and regulatory scrutiny.
The common thread? Trust. Whether it’s where customer data is processed, how much AI features cost, or whether that Teams message really came from a colleague, Microsoft continues to balance innovation with the foundational expectations users have of their collaboration platforms. Here’s what happened.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Expands In-Country Data Processing to 15 Countries
Microsoft is addressing data sovereignty concerns by offering in-country data processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions across 15 countries. The expansion aims to remove a major adoption barrier for organizations in regulated industries that need to keep data within specific geographic boundaries.
By the end of 2025, customers in Australia, India, Japan, and the UK will be able to have their Copilot interactions processed within their borders. The rollout will expand in 2026 to include eleven additional countries: Canada, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and the US.
For industries such as financial services, healthcare, and government—particularly those turning away from US technology—this initiative aims to make Copilot more appealing than competitors that may not offer comparable geographic controls.
Microsoft to Refund Australian Customers Over AI Subscription Pricing
Microsoft Australia is offering refunds to nearly three million subscribers after the country’s competition regulator took the company to court over the way it charged for AI features.
The refunds come after Microsoft admitted its pricing structure “lacked clarity and fell short of its standards.”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) filed legal action in federal court, claiming Microsoft misled consumers about subscription prices and failed to adequately communicate the availability of cheaper plans without AI tools. The case specifically targets how Microsoft bundled AI capabilities into existing subscriptions without offering customers clear opt-out choices. If the court rules against Microsoft, the company could face multimillion-dollar penalties.
This is not the first time Microsoft has been in hot water over product bundling. The tech giant recently settled a years-long legal saga with the EU after agreeing to concessions and unbundling Teams from its Office suite.
Teams Security Flaws Enabled Message Spoofing and Identity Forgery
Security researchers at Check Point discovered four critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft Teams that could have allowed attackers to impersonate colleagues and manipulate communications without detection.
Revealed this week but originally disclosed to Microsoft in 2024, the flaws made it possible to edit messages without the “Edited” label appearing, spoof system alerts, rename chats to misrepresent participants, and forge caller identities in audio and video calls.
With 320 million monthly active users relying on Teams for everything from routine updates to financial approvals, these vulnerabilities represented a serious threat.
Microsoft confirmed the issues, assigned CVE-2024-38197 to one of the flaws, and rolled out patches throughout 2024. The final fix for the caller identity vulnerability was completed at the end of October 2025.
The incident underscores how attackers are shifting focus from perimeter breaches to the manipulation of trusted communication channels.
Microsoft Adds Voice Commands and Team Collaboration to Copilot
Microsoft is expanding Copilot’s capabilities with voice input and group collaboration features designed to deepen its role in enterprise workflows.
The voice feature, currently available only in the mobile app, allows users to interact with Copilot through natural language commands that integrate with Microsoft Graph to pull context from documents, calendars, and emails. The voice interface supports follow-up questions and aims to streamline quick tasks such as drafting emails or retrieving meeting summaries.
Microsoft indicated that desktop and web support is under development and will arrive in a future update.
By adding voice input, Microsoft is targeting use cases where typing isn’t practical—during commutes, between meetings, or while multitasking.
