As the demand for artificial intelligence (AI) tools continues across the world, Microsoft has revealed a significant expansion to its Copilot platform.
The company says its new Copilot Pro subscription tier will deliver the most advanced features and capabilities of Microsoft Copilot, at the cost of $20 per month/per user, alongside the existing free tier - which will remain.
But the company also announced it will be bringing even more Copilot to Microsoft 365 business users desperate for access when it comes to apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more.
Microsoft Copilot Pro - and on M365
Microsoft says Copilot Pro will provide "a single AI experience" across all your devices, bringing context-specific advice and guidance when you need it. It will be powered by some of the very latest AI models, starting with Open AI's GPT-4 Turbo, which offers faster and smarter assistance than previous generations.
Users will also soon be able to build their own Copilot GPT via the upcoming Copilot GPT Builder, giving the opportunity to create customized Copilots tailored for specific topics. Subscribers will also get access to Image Creator from Designer (previously known as Bing Image Creator), offering enhanced AI image creation at a higher quality than ever before.
"As we kick off a new year, we’re thrilled to see people increasingly using and loving Microsoft Copilot for work and life," noted Yusuf Mehdi, Executive Vice President and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, Microsoft. "Our goal is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more by bringing Copilot, the everyday AI companion, to millions of people around the world."
Elsewhere, the company revealed Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now available for organizations of all sizes, with no seat minimum, bringing AI smarts across Word (pictured below), Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Microsoft Teams.
This includes small businesses with Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Business Standard plans, who can now purchase between one and 299 seats for $30 per person per month.
Microsoft is also removing the 300-seat purchase minimum for commercial plans and making Copilot available for Office 365 E3 and E5 customers (which previously required a Microsoft 365 license, and revealed that commercial customers can now purchase Copilot for Microsoft 365 through its network of Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider partners.
"Copilot for Microsoft 365 is even more powerful for organizations because it works across your entire universe of data at work — including emails, meetings, chats, documents and more, plus the web," noted Mehdi.
"With today’s announcements, we continue to bring Copilot to more customers with more options that work for them. 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."
