Microsoft sets a high price for Copilot, its AI-powered vision for the future of Office documents.

Microsoft sets a high price for Copilot, its AI-powered vision for the future of Office documents.

Microsoft is pricing its AI-powered future of Office documents, known as Microsoft 365 Copilot, at a significant premium for businesses interested in adopting their cutting-edge technology. For Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium customers, the service will be available at $30 per user per month.

This new cost represents a substantial increase compared to the current Microsoft 365 plans. Presently, businesses are charged $36 per user per month for Microsoft 365 E3, which grants access to Office apps, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and various other productivity features. By introducing a $30 premium for Microsoft 365 Copilot access, the expenses nearly double for E3 subscribers seeking these AI-powered capabilities. As for Microsoft 365 Business Standard, the cost increase is almost threefold, given that it currently stands at $12.50 per user per month.

Microsoft is aiming to revolutionize its Office apps with the introduction of its AI-powered Copilot service. This feature enables businesses to quickly summarize documents, generate emails, and expedite Excel analysis. Undoubtedly, Microsoft 365 Copilot appears to be an incredibly compelling addition that has the potential to transform Office documents permanently. However, the high cost may deter many existing Microsoft 365 businesses from immediately adopting Copilot.

During a paid early access program over the past few months, approximately 600 enterprise customers have been testing Microsoft 365 Copilot. Prominent companies like KPMG, Lumen, and Emirates NBD were among those granted access. According to Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's head of consumer marketing, customer enthusiasm for Copilot grows with increased usage, and soon it may become an indispensable tool for everyone.

Despite the anticipation, Microsoft has yet to provide a specific release date for Microsoft 365 Copilot. The company faces competition from Google, which recently announced similar AI features for Google Workspace, including AI-assisted text generation in Gmail, Docs, and more. Zoom and Salesforce are also incorporating AI-powered functionalities into their offerings, raising interest in how these companies will handle pricing for their AI additions moving forward.

The higher price of Microsoft 365 Copilot is partly due to the significant investment Microsoft has made in developing its AI-powered capabilities. The company has devoted billions of dollars to its partnership with OpenAI to bring this technology to fruition. Additionally, tech companies like Microsoft have been vying for Nvidia GPUs to power these features, leading to a premium on their usage until chip availability and costs improve. To mitigate this reliance, Microsoft is reportedly working on its own AI chips.

Moreover, Microsoft is integrating the Copilot experience into Teams, making it available in the Teams phone calling experience and within Teams Chat threads. As part of the pricing announcement, Microsoft is also launching Bing Chat Enterprise, offering the same Bing Chat functionality available to consumers but with added commercial data protection. The preview of Bing Chat Enterprise is now being rolled out and is included at no extra cost in Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium.