Microsoft launches Copilot Pro at $20/month amid AI revenue push

Microsoft has rolled out Copilot Pro, a premium subscription offering advanced AI capabilities to “individuals, creators and power users looking to take their Copilot experience to the next level.” Priced at a highly affordable $20 per month per user, Copilot Pro provides a unified AI experience across devices, allowing users to harness Copilot’s capabilities in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote on PC, Mac, and iPad for Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers.

Among the key features of Copilot Pro is priority access to the latest models, starting with OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo. Users can expect faster performance during peak times, with the upcoming ability to toggle between models for a customised experience. The subscription also includes enhanced AI image creation through Image Creator from Designer (formerly Bing Image Creator), offering faster processing with 100 boosts per day, improved image quality, and support for landscape image format.

One of the standout features is the Copilot GPT Builder, allowing users to create a custom Copilot GPT tailored to specific topics using simple prompts. This feature is set to be introduced soon, providing additional customisation options.

Microsoft has also broadened the availability of Copilot for Microsoft 365, making it accessible to organisations of all sizes and eliminating the previous 300-seat purchase minimum. Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now generally available for small businesses with Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Business Standard, allowing customers to purchase between one and 299 seats at $30 per person per month.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 offers a comprehensive AI experience across various work data, including emails, meetings, chats, documents, and more. The natural language prompts enable Copilot to generate updates, analyse data, design presentations, triage emails, and perform various tasks within Microsoft Teams, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and other apps. The service is backed by enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance measures.

Microsoft has also introduced Copilot GPTs, enabling users to customise Copilot’s behaviour on specific topics. Several Copilot GPTs, such as fitness, travel, and cooking, have been rolled out, with Copilot Pro users soon gaining the ability to create their own using the Copilot GPT Builder.

Additionally, Microsoft has launched the Copilot mobile app for Android and iOS, allowing users to access Copilot on the go. The app supports Copilot queries and chats across both mobile and PC platforms. Copilot is also being integrated into the Microsoft 365 mobile app for Android and iOS, enabling users to export created content to Word or PDF documents.

While Microsoft focuses on paid Copilot plans, free users can still explore Copilot’s transformative capabilities. Microsoft has expanded Copilot’s language support to include Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian, with additional languages planned for the first half of 2024. It seems to be a great start to the year for Microsoft!