- Microsoft introduces the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription plan for businesses.
- The company also has launched Bing Chat Enterprise as a free offering to select Microsoft 365 plans.
- Bing Chat on the web and Windows Copilot will continue to be available for free to customers.
Microsoft wants money to allow businesses to access its AI technology, and the price isn’t cheap. According to the company, the Microsoft 365 Copilot will be available for $30 per month (per user) for customers using the Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Standard, Business, and Business Premium subscriptions.
The cost to access the Copilot AI is in addition to the already $36 per month (per user) to use the Microsoft 365 E3 subscription that gives businesses access to the suite of Office apps (including Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive) and various other benefits. This means businesses wanting to adopt AI in the workplace will have to spend more than double, and even more, for those using a higher tier of the service.
Thus far, a small number of businesses have enrolled to be part of the early access of the new Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the company says that it has learned that as more customers use the technology, the more the adoption grows.
It’s important to note that the Copilot subscription is only for enterprises. The Bing Chat experience (the Copilot for the web) and the upcoming Windows Copilot for Windows 11 will continue to be available for free to everyone. Soon, the suite of Office apps for the consumer version of Microsoft 365 will also feature access to the Copilot, but it’ll require a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription.
Furthermore, Microsoft has also introduced a new Bing Chat Enterprise. This is the same chatbot experience you get with Bing Chat today but with added commercial data protection to prevent the company’s data from leaking. In addition, Microsoft also says that it won’t use customers’ data to train the AI model, and conversations won’t be saved. This offering is free for select Microsoft 365 plans (E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium).
The software giant also explains that similar to Bing Chat, “Bing Chat Enterprise is grounded in web data and provides complete, verifiable answers with citations, along with visual answers that include graphs, charts and images, and is designed in line with our AI principles.”
The new Bing Chat Enterprise is available from Bing.com/Chat using a business account enrolled in the experience.
While the Bing Chat Enterprise is already available, it’s unclear when the Microsoft 365 Copilot will be released. However, whenever it happens, the company will face competition from Google, Zoom, and Salesforce as they’re gearing up to bring similar AI technologies to the market.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].