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Last year, the editors of Merriam-Webster\u2019s dictionary anointed<\/a> their word of the year as \u201cslop,\u201d a term denoting the low-quality flood of AI output that\u2019s been jamming up feeds for years now.<\/p>\n The latest victim? Software giant Microsoft. After infuriating vast swathes of its user base<\/a> with an unrelenting barrage of AI-enhanced features \u2014 even declaring its latest Windows 11 operating system as an \u201cagentic OS<\/a>\u201d \u2014 the company has garnered a reputation for doubling down on the tech with little regard for whether it\u2019s actually benefiting customers.<\/p>\n The ensuing blunders have represented a massive hit for Microsoft\u2019s brand, ranging from maddeningly ineffective search tools<\/a> to intrusive chatbots<\/a> and bugs that leaked confidential emails<\/a>. To sum it all up, netizens came up with a pejorative term: \u201cMicroslop,\u201d which clearly infuriated executives<\/a> at the company.<\/p>\n In the latest sign that it\u2019s getting under Microsoft\u2019s skin, the company banned the phrase on its over-one-year-old Discord server dedicated to the company\u2019s Copilot chatbot, as Windows Latest discovered<\/a>.<\/p>\n Things spiraled from there. After users found simple workarounds for the new rule, like spelling it \u201cMicrosl0p,\u201d the company\u2019s moderation team locked the entire Discord server<\/a> and hid its messaging history.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Copilot Discord channel has recently been targeted by spammers attempting to disrupt and overwhelm the space with harmful content not related to Copilot,\u201d a Microsoft spokesperson told us, adding that the \u201cblocking of terms like \u2018Microslop\u2019 and some others associated with this spam campaign were temporary while the company worked to implement better safeguards.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cInitially, this spam consisted of walls of text, so we added temporary filters for select terms to slow this activity,\u201d the spokesperson continued. \u201cWe have since made the decision to temporarily lock down the server while we work to implement stronger safeguards to protect users from this harmful spam and help ensure the server remains a safe, usable space for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s yet another embarrassing failure to read the room, underlining how little goodwill Microsoft has left as it attempts to shoehorn AI into most of its offerings. Even its text-editing software, Notepad, got an AI makeover recently, opening up a major cybersecurity vulnerability<\/a> in the process.<\/p>\n Worse yet, Microsoft\u2019s decision to shut down the Discord server is bringing more attention to the growing backlash.<\/p>\n \u201cStreisand effect in full swing,\u201d one Reddit user argued<\/a>, referring to the phenomenon where attempts to suppress information backfire. (The effect\u2019s name was inspired by Barbra Streisand suing a photographer<\/a> for violating her privacy by taking a photo of her cliff-top residence in Malibu to document coastal erosion, ultimately bringing major media attention to the issue instead of suppressing it.)<\/p>\n \u201cThe only thing more effective at spreading a meme than trying to ban it is\u2026 trying to ban it,\u201d another user argued<\/a>. \u201cMicrosoft just ensured \u2018Microslop\u2019 will be the default term for the next decade. Well played.\u201d<\/p>\n In short, public sentiment for Microsoft\u2019s AI offerings is seemingly at an all-time low. That\u2019s despite the company\u2019s capital expenditures soaring as it pours tens of billions of dollars into AI computing chips<\/a> \u2014 a risky bet that\u2019s failing to impress investors.<\/p>\n Customers are also not exactly keen on the company\u2019s latest obsession.<\/p>\n \u201cMicroslop ain\u2019t gonna stop me to continue calling it Microslop,\u201d one Reddit user wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n