Microsoft has expanded its AI-powered Office features from businesses to consumers, launching Copilot Pro as a $20 monthly subscription. This new subscription provides access to AI-powered features inside Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Notably, Copilot Pro also offers priority access to the latest OpenAI models and the ability to build your own Copilot GPT. This latest move comes just two months after Microsoft first introduced its AI-powered Office features for businesses in November.
Customers who are already Microsoft 365 Personal or Home subscribers can unlock Copilot in Office apps on Mac, Windows, and iPad by adding the extra $20 per month per person subscription. Copilot Pro’s offerings include the ability to generate entire PowerPoint slide decks from a chatbot-like prompt, as well as inline Copilot experiences in Word to rephrase paragraphs, generate text, and summarize documents. Beyond Office apps, Copilot will also integrate into Outlook.com, assisting users with replying to emails or generating new ones, and a preview version is available in Excel for data analysis, graph generation, and more.
Additionally, a code leak suggests that Microsoft could be preparing to introduce Copilot Pro as a tiered subscription model. The new Edge browser updates for Android contain references to a Copilot Pro tier, signaling that it may not be free for much longer. The code indicates a “pay wall upsell” option, hinting at a potential paid subscription similar to ChatGPT Plus. Notably, ChatGPT is also a significant part of Microsoft’s integration into its Copilot AI assistant for Edge, Bing, and Windows 11.
Moreover, Microsoft’s Copilot for Microsoft 365, initially launched with an enterprise commitment requirement of at least 300 users and a sizable cost, is now available to all businesses, large and small, without any minimum user requirement. This move comes as a response to the demand and interest from smaller businesses, which led Microsoft to remove the 300 seat minimum. Businesses of all sizes are now able to access the $30 option for enabling Copilot in Microsoft 365.
In summary, with the launch of Copilot Pro and the expansion of its AI-powered Office features to all businesses, Microsoft is doubling down on its efforts to make AI accessible and beneficial to a broader consumer base, promising to enhance productivity and streamline tasks within the Office suite.
