Ai Data Connectors
The latest Ai Data Connectors coverage — news, analysis, and updates from the WindowsNews.AI desk.
Commvault Lands Native Azure Integration for AI-Powered Cyber Resilience, Preview Set for June 2026
Commvault will become a native ISV service on Microsoft Azure, with public preview opening June 24, 2026. The integration embeds Commvault's AI-driven cyber resilience—including anomaly detection, cleanroom recovery, and generative AI assistant Arlie—directly into the Azure portal, offering unified billing, management, and identity alignment. This move targets enterprises needing advanced protection against ransomware and tightens Azure's data resilience portfolio against competitors.
EU's Cloud Gatekeeper Shake-Up: AWS and Azure Targetted for AI-Era Regulation
The European Commission announced on June 25, 2026, that AWS and Azure should be designated as DMA gatekeepers for cloud infrastructure, following a seven-month investigation. If finalized, the move would impose interoperability, anti-self-preferencing, and data portability obligations on the dominant platforms, reshaping competition and AI development in Europe.
Microsoft's AI Moat Evaporates as Copilot Stalls and Azure Costs Mount
Microsoft's stock has lagged the market in 2026 as its Copilot and Azure AI businesses face headwinds: tepid enterprise adoption, soaring infrastructure costs, and an overreliance on OpenAI. The company is racing to build a competitive moat through verticalized Copilots and custom silicon, but investors remain skeptical.
Microsoft Excel Copilot Gains Reusable Skills, Finance Connectors, and Change Attribution
Microsoft announced Copilot in Excel updates on June 25, 2026, including reusable Skills for automation, finance-oriented data connectors, planning controls for scenario analysis, and change attribution for transparency. These features aim to transform financial modeling and empower business users with AI-driven workflows across Excel for the web and Windows.
Microsoft Embeds Audit Evidence into M365 Copilot Engineering, EY Validates Governance Engine
Microsoft is integrating compliance checks and audit evidence collection directly into the engineering workflow of Microsoft 365 Copilot, creating a 'governance engine' that EY has validated against ISO 42001. This design-time approach automates evidence generation for every update, easing regulatory burdens for enterprises and providing continuous assurance. The shift signals a new era of verifiable AI governance within Microsoft’s productivity suite.
Owners of 400 Local Newspapers Sue OpenAI and Microsoft in Landmark AI Copyright Case
A coalition of publishers owning nearly 400 local and regional newspapers filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft on June 24, 2026, alleging copyright infringement in the training of AI models like Copilot. The suit seeks billions in damages and a permanent injunction, highlighting the existential threat to local journalism. The case is poised to set a major precedent on whether scraping copyrighted news for AI training constitutes fair use.
Microsoft Gives Excel Copilot a Finance Degree: AI Analysis, Data Connectors, and Traceability
Microsoft announced on June 25, 2026, that Copilot in Excel is gaining finance-specific skills, new third-party data connectors, and traceable editing with full audit trails. These updates bring AI-powered financial analysis, live data integration, and governance features, rolling out broadly across Excel for Windows, Mac, and the web.
OpenText: Without AI-Driven Content Management, Microsoft Copilot Scaling Will Fail
OpenText argues that fragmented, ungoverned business content is the biggest barrier to scaling Microsoft Copilot effectively. In a June 2026 blog post, the company highlights how its AI-powered content management platform creates a unified, governed knowledge layer that makes Copilot more accurate, secure, and compliant across hybrid enterprise environments. Early adopters report significant gains in search accuracy and process efficiency, though some IT leaders caution about the complexity of federated approaches.
Forrester Names Microsoft Intune a Leader in Endpoint Management, Puts AI at Center
Microsoft Intune has been named a Leader in The Forrester Wave: Endpoint Management Platforms, Q2 2026, solidifying its position as an AI-driven control plane that unifies management across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. The recognition validates Intune's deep security integrations, cross-platform support, and proactive AI features, signaling a market shift toward automated, zero-trust endpoint management.
Commvault Brings AI-Powered Cyber Resilience to Microsoft Azure as Native ISV Service
Microsoft Azure will soon offer Commvault’s AI-driven cyber resilience platform as a native ISV service, embedding advanced backup and identity recovery directly into the Azure portal. The public preview, expected this summer, aims to slash recovery times for Microsoft 365 data and Entra ID configurations, addressing modern ransomware threats. The deep integration signals a new phase of cloud-native data protection for Windows and Azure enterprises.
Excel Users Gain Direct AI-Powered Access to PitchBook’s Private Market Data
PitchBook launched a federated Microsoft 365 Copilot connector on June 25, 2026, enabling licensed users to access private capital market data directly within Excel through natural language queries. The integration streamlines financial research by eliminating manual data lookups and allows analysts to perform complex analyses, build models, and generate insights without leaving Excel.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Leads 34-Newspaper Coalition in Legal Battle Over Copilot's Use of Copyrighted Content
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and WEHCO Newspapers joined 33 other plaintiffs in a June 2026 copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that Copilot and GPT models unlawfully used nearly 400 local papers’ content without permission. The case challenges DMCA compliance and content provenance, raising significant implications for Windows 12 users, enterprise IT, and the future of local news economics.
Microsoft Research Unveils Generative Causal Testing to Explain LLM Brain Activity Predictions
Microsoft Research, in collaboration with UC Berkeley, UCSF, and Columbia University, has introduced generative causal testing, a method that transforms LLM-based brain-prediction models into testable, mechanistic explanations. By generating controlled linguistic stimuli and validating causal hypotheses, the framework moves beyond correlation to uncover the specific language features that drive neural predictions, with broad implications for AI transparency and cognitive neuroscience.