Microsoft is expanding the accessibility of its artificial intelligence tool, Copilot, by introducing a subscription service aimed at consumers and small businesses. After launching a free AI Copilot for the Bing search engine last year, Microsoft now offers Copilot Pro to individuals for $20 per month.
This subscription provides users with an advanced text-drafting, number-crunching AI assistant integrated into widely used Microsoft applications such as Word and Excel. Additionally, subscribers can access new tools and AI models, including the GPT-4 Turbo.
Microsoft has also removed the previous requirement of a 300-person minimum for the enterprise version of Copilot, making security controls and a Microsoft Teams upgrade available to smaller businesses for $30 per month per user.
Corporate Vice President Jared Spataro expressed confidence in widespread adoption, stating, “I can’t imagine a commercial organization out there that will not buy at least a seat of Copilot to see what it’s all about.”
Competing with Alphabet’s Google in the AI productivity and cloud software market, Microsoft aims to distinguish Copilot Pro by its integration into everyday applications. While other subscription services, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus, exist in the consumer market, Microsoft emphasizes the seamless integration of Copilot Pro into commonly used applications.
