They know how much people hate this shit already. They don't need the focus groups.

They're doing it because they want greater access to everyone's data, they want to see exactly what is on every single machine and be able to use all of that information for their models or whatever else. Data is what they're after and they will do shit nobody likes to get to it because they're pursuing the AI bag.

This will stop when the AI bubble pops. For now they're all in on this because it's the part of the market with the highest growth.

Companies do not pursue "make product better", they pursue "make more money for our shareholders". If increasing your stock value comes from going all-in on AI then they'll do that regardless of any consequences to the user. They will only divert from this path when the market diverts from AI.

They have done focus groups though, but they cook the answers to fit the AI support, e.g. if respondents write "I feel pressured to use AI to keep up", Microsoft spins it as "XX percent of workers use AI to get ahead". I've seen the drip feed propagAInda they push on my work PC and on the LinkedIn feed, they're going hell for leather. It's a paper thin justification over what Awoo rightly identifies as the real motive