Microsoft mascot, world’s first virtual assistant ‘Clippy’ makes comeback after 18 years

Microsoft’s official mascot, Clippy, has made a comeback 18 years after it was axed by the company. It was the original virtual assistant long before Siri or Alexa were born.

The eagle-eyed fans of Clippy spotted the mascot in the latest Microsoft advertisement regarding its new AI companion called Mico.

Mico is a friendly bob with a smiley face. Early users claim that if clicked multiple times Mico changes shape into Clippy.

The iconic paperclip mascot is back as an Easter egg within Copilot’s new Mico character.

Clippy was first introduced by Microsoft as a virtual assistant in 1997 to help users perform various on-screen tasks and give advice.

After 10 years in service and much negative feedback, it was axed by Microsoft in 2007 and since then the mascot had never been made part of any adverts by the company.

Since then, the tech giant has introduced several virtual assistants including Cortana, Tay and now Mico but none has reached the popularity that Clippy had.

Cortana and Tay were axed in 2016 after they posted racist comments. According to Microsoft, Mico is an optional visual presence that listens, reacts and even changes colors to reflect interactions with users.

The company adds that Mico is designed to create a friendly and engaging experience.