Microsoft's Copilot AI Assistant Driving Price Hikes for Some 365 Users

Microsoft is trying to make money from its big investments in generative AI. Now, this is affecting consumers. The Wall Street Journal says that the price of Microsoft's 365 service is going up in places like Australia and parts of Asia. This is because Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant is now part of the service.

It's not new for Microsoft to charge for Copilot. Companies already have to pay $30 a month for each user. But now, Copilot is in some versions of Microsoft's 365 service. This service has popular apps like Word, PowerPoint, Teams, and Excel. Copilot uses technology from OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT. Microsoft has invested about $14 billion in OpenAI. Microsoft is also competing with other companies like Apple, Google, and Anthropic. These companies have their own AI software that is getting better quickly.

Even though Microsoft uses technology like ChatGPT 4, it sees Copilot as a competitor too. The Wall Street Journal says that Copilot's app has been downloaded 37 million times. This is much less than ChatGPT, which has been downloaded 433 million times from May 2023 to mid-December 2024.

People have different opinions about Copilot as a separate software. Microsoft has also had some problems with a Copilot AI feature called Recall. This feature has caused concerns about privacy and security. However, Recall is not a feature of 365. It is a feature of Windows 11 Copilot that also uses AI technology.

In Australia, the monthly price of 365 is going up from $11 to $16. This is a 45% increase. In the US, Microsoft's business customers will see a 5% increase for 365 Copilot starting in April if they pay monthly. If they pay yearly, the monthly charge of $30 per user will stay the same.