Nearly a year after Microsoft launched Bing Chat powered by ChatGPT, now simply called Copilot, the company is announcing its next big AI moves. First, it’s launching Copilot Pro, a $20-a-month subscription that gives power users access to the latest ChatGPT releases, as well as Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps and other new features. In addition, the Copilot iOS and Android apps are available to everyone after: limited edition last month.
And that’s not all! Microsoft also introduced a new feature that will allow Copilot to change GPT around specific topics like “fitness, travel, cooking and more,” according to Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft EVP and head of Windows. Copilot Pro users will also finally be able to create their own Copilot GPTs. (And yes, the name is definitely confusing, but this is Microsoft’s version OpenAI’s standalone GPTs.)
Microsoft says that Copilot Pro users will have access to GPT-4 Turbo during peak hours starting today, allowing them to switch between different GPT models. The subscription also provides better AI image generation, which will deliver faster and higher image quality with optional landscape format. It should also be noted that Copilot Pro is $20 per month per user — if more than one person in your family needs access, plan to help out more.
While Copilot and Microsoft’s onslaught of AI announcements throughout 2023 has generated a lot of hype – it’s actually made us care about poor old Bing again! — whether it’s useful for general users remains to be seen. This may explain the rush to monetize Copilot so quickly for power users. Copilot queries are expensive in terms of both computing power and energy usage, so Microsoft needs a way to recoup some of those costs from its most aggressive users. The company should also make good on its $13 billion investment in OpenAI, with a 49 percent stake in the AI firm (and once again increased regulatory scrutiny).
Given how closely related they are, it’s no surprise that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was instrumental in co-founding OpenAI. Sam Altman was reappointed as CEOafter a dramatic battle with the company’s board.
Along with Copilot Pro, Microsoft says Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now widely available to small businesses with “Business Premium” and “Business Standard” subscriptions. Pricing hasn’t changed from the previous enterprise release: It’s still $30 per month per person (except now you can get between 1 and 299 seats).
