Microsoft has a new subscription tier for its Copilot AI companion that will bring it across more devices and into more applications than before. Dubbed Copilot Pro, the $20 per month (and per user) subscription will get you a cohesive AI that follows you across your Windows PCs, the web, apps, and "soon on your phone."
The paid tier will also add Copilot to Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, and OneNote on Windows PCs, Macs, and iPads, as long as you're also a subscriber to Microsoft 365 Personal or Family.
Those who sign on for Copilot Pro will also be the first to get the latest models from OpenAI. Starting today, that means those who subscribe will get access to GPT-4 Turbo "during peak times for faster performance," Microsoft executive vice president and consumer chief marketing Officer wrote in a blog post. It appears the new model will also get access to the newer model, but that you'll need Copilot Pro to use newer models when usage is high, as well as to switch between models.
Mehdi also wrote that image creation with Image Creator from Designer (formerly known as Bing Image Creator) will be faster "with 100 boosts per day while bringing you more detailed image quality as well as landscape image format." Copilot Pro will also let you create a custom Copilot GPT specialized for certain topics with just a few prompts. That last feature, which sounds similar to custom GPTs that OpenAI just launched, will come "soon" in a Copilot GPT Builder. For free customers, Copilot GPTs will be broadly available. These will be specialized to certain topics, and Microsoft says they will be tailored to interests like travel, cooking, and fitness.
Mehdi says that Copilot Pro is designed to provide "more options for power users, creators, and anyone looking to take their Copilot experience to the next level."
Microsoft's subscription isn't terribly surprising. The company has made a huge investment in OpenAI and adding features to Windows, Microsoft 365, Edge and other products, and is among the most valuable companies in the world partially due to its refocusing on AI. it's unsurprising that a subscription is here; it lets Microsoft monetize Copilot.
And the $20 per month, per user price has a precedent: OpenAI itself. ChatGPT Plus is also $20 per month and promises faster response times, access during peak times, and the ability to get the newest models and features first.
Beyond Copilot Pro, Microsoft is making Copilot for Microsoft 365 available to small businesses (one to 299 seats), for $30 per person per month, and is removing 300-seat purchase minimums for many enterprise customers. Microsoft 365 for education faculty and staff will also see access to Copilot.
That $30 subscription for Microsoft 365 provides even further details.Including Copilot in teams and a "Semantic Index" that works with Copilot and the Microsoft Graph to "create a sophisticated map of all the data and content in your organization," which Microsoft wrote in a different blog will make Copilot more relevant to companies and provide more actionable responses.
Copilot is now available on Android and iOS, and will roll out to the Microsoft 365 app for both platforms in the next month.
At CES, we saw a number of Windows laptops with dedicated Copilot keys — the biggest change to the Windows keyboard layout in decades. Now we'll see if this new subscription program, plus broader access to businesses and schools, gets people tapping those keys.
