Microsoft is letting consumers use Copilot on various Office apps and is making enterprise subscription options easier for smaller businesses.
Microsoft is expanding access to the more advanced features of its Copilot AI assistant by releasing a premium version for consumers.
The company said this was done to give creators, researchers, programmers and others faster access to the latest Copilot has to offer and to respond to demand from Microsoft 365 customers.
The company’s Copilot Pro subscription brings the AI assistant to various Microsoft apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Users need to be subscribed to Microsoft 365 Personal or Family to avail of this service.
The Copilot subscription also gives users priority access to the latest AI models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo. Microsoft revealed plans to infuse Copilot with some OpenAI offerings last month.
Following in OpenAI’s footsteps for custom AI creation, the new Copilot Pro will let users build their own Copilot GPT – a customised version to suit specific uses.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is expanding Copilot for Microsoft 365 to businesses “of all sizes”. This service became generally available for enterprises in November 2023, but is now being expanded to cater to smaller businesses.
The tech giant said it is removing the 300-seat purchase minimum for commercial plans and making Copilot available for Office 365 E3 and E5 customers.
Yusuf Mehdi, executive VP and consumer CMO at Microsoft, said the updates are designed to bring more options for various types of customers.
“Whether you’re looking to get started with Copilot for free, want to supercharge your Copilot experience with Copilot Pro or are an SMB or enterprise customer looking to increase your productivity in new ways with Copilot for Microsoft 365, there’s a Copilot experience for everyone,” Mehdi said.
The Copilot Pro subscription costs $20 a month per user, while businesses can purchase an enterprise option for $30 per person per month.
Microsoft shifted its focus last year to bring AI to the masses and businesses. Towards the end of 2023, the tech giant said it will invest £2.5bn in the UK over the next three years, its largest ever investment in the country, to expand its AI data centre and research footprint
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