Microsoft is quietly building a new Canvas-style workspace for Co-Pilot, and leaked screenshots suggest it is a full-fledged AI-powered whiteboard.
As posted on x by Windows enthusiast Walking Cat, the feature/app is internally referred to as Project Firenze; however, the leaked interface shows the name Co-Pilot Canvas.
Co-Pilot Canvas appears to be a web-based environment where users can create and manage canvases drawn with digital ink tools and interact with content in a free-form layout, similar to the existing Microsoft Whiteboard app.
The landing screen shows a prompt to create your initial canvas to start drawing and taking notes. Like the Microsoft Whiteboard app, Co-Pilot Canvas can automatically save your work.
We found references to both development and production of Azure endpoints, which suggest Co-Pilot Whiteboard is being actively tested internally and is not a static mockup. There is also a generic-looking logo, but we are not sure if this is the final version.
Despite no major updates recently, the Microsoft Whiteboard app remains a fully functional collaborative tool, so it is unclear whether Microsoft is replacing it with Co-Pilot Canvas.
CoPilot Canvas Integrates AI Image Generation, Streaming, And Advanced Feature Controls
As expected, Co-Pilot whiteboard will rely on AI as its main differentiator compared to the original Microsoft whiteboard. Seven developer-style options point to a system designed for instant AI interaction.
One of the most telling switches is labeled “Create with AI streaming”, suggesting the canvas may support live generative responses as you draw or type instead of waiting for a completed prompt. Copilot Whiteboard may generate diagrams, layouts, or visual elements incrementally as you work, similar to brainstorming with an assistant that updates the board in real time.
Another menu shows an image model selector with options such as GPT-4o Image Gen (default), GPT-4o Image Gen 1.5, and GPT Image 1.5, which are not the latest models. However, the presence of multiple selectable models shows that the Co-Pilot canvas can handle multi-modal generation directly in the workspace.
Auto-naming for Canvas titles could be useful for collaborative work during or after a meeting. Co-Pilot Whiteboard may examine the content of a board and produce a meaningful name automatically.
The Co-Pilot Canvas app also reveals a long list of AI-related configuration panels under developer mode, including:
- Debug gates/AI gates.
- Meeting summary
- One Shot Grounding
- Post grounding
- Intent detection
- Solve Math
- Delegate actions to Augloop and hand off actions
These are not typical whiteboard features. They support agent-style behaviours in which the AI can reason over content, summarize discussions, interpret intent, and potentially trigger additional actions, which aligns with Microsoft’s strengths.
Co-Pilot Canvas could bring AI to help with brainstorming on whiteboards.
Today, most interactions with AI still take place in a chat box. Co-Pilot cameras may be placed closer to a visual workspace where users can collaborate, map, and execute ideas with Co-Pilot’s help.
Although many modern canvas-style apps like Notion, Visual Pages, Figma, Miro, and Microsoft Whiteboards exist, Microsoft could be in a unique position to bring AI into the whiteboard environment because it has direct access to enterprises.
Co-Pilot whiteboard could enable workflows where teams can:
- sketch
- draft documents
- generate images
- summarize discussions
- trigger actions
Microsoft may also be considering portable workspaces with Co-Pilot whiteboard, since there are options to export and import .canvas files. This could allow teams to share AI-assisted canvases, as they do with documents today.
That being said, everything about Project Forensic looks like an early developer toggle feature, and internal endpoints point to something in testing rather than something prepared for release.
Microsoft has not made any public announcement about a possible replacement for Microsoft Whiteboard or any roadmap. We will update as soon as Microsoft makes Copilot Canvas official.
