GoKawiilRobert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR Internal documents show that Microsoft wants to ‘make people addicted’ to its new Scout AI assistant.
Scout is an agentic tool that can complete various tasks on your behalf.
This language comes amid heightened scrutiny over AI dependency.
Update: June 5, 2026 (1:36 AM ET): Microsoft has issued a statement after internal documents leaked regarding its Scout agentic assistant. The documents showed that the firm wanted to “make people addicted” to the AI tool.
Now, Microsoft has claimed in a statement to Android Authority that its goal isn’t to increase screen time: With Microsoft Scout, we have created an autonomous, personal agent for work with the focus on helping people accomplish tasks more effectively — not encouraging dependency. Our goal isn’t more screen time. It’s more time back. Our approach is grounded in building human-centered AI that remains firmly in service of people, guided by our Responsible AI principles. As we shared in our announcement, we’re taking a thoughtful approach to the rollout — learning with and from customers as the technology evolves, and ensuring people have clear choice and control in how they engage. Nevertheless, it’s still hard to reconcile this public statement with an internal call to “make people addicted” to an AI tool, even if the tool is supposed to help you spend less time looking at a screen.
Original article: June 3, 2026 (3:45 AM ET): People have grown increasingly reliant on AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini. In fact, it’s not uncommon to hear about people being glued to their AI chatbots for even the most mundane reasons. Now, it turns out that addiction is a very deliberate goal for one major company’s AI assistant.
Microsoft has just announced Scout, a new agentic AI assistant powered by OpenClaw. However, internal documents uncovered by 404 Media show that the company explicitly wants to “make people addicted” to the service.
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