Microsoft launches Copilot Pro for “power users”

Microsoft has launched Copilot Pro, a premium subscription service that makes its AI companion accessible to more people in more contexts.

The background: In March 2023, Microsoft unveiled Copilot, a new “AI companion” for its 365 productivity apps.

Copilot is built on large language models (LLMs) — AIs trained to understand and generate human-like text — which gives it the ability to draft proposals for you in Word, summarize spreadsheets in Excel, design presentations in Powerpoint, and more at your request.

Initially, Microsoft made Copilot accessible to just a small group of customers. Then, in November, it launched a service called “Copilot for Microsoft 365” that made Copilot available to organizations willing to buy at least 300 subscriptions at a cost of $30 per month.

What’s new? Microsoft has now unveiled “Copilot Pro,” a new subscription service for “power users, creators, and anyone looking to take their Copilot experience to the next level.” In real terms, it’s for anyone with a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plan.

The service isn’t as robust as Copilot for Microsoft 365 — it doesn’t work with Microsoft Teams, for example — but it also costs just $20 per month. That fee will be on top of the price of a Microsoft 365 account, though (Personal plans start at $6.99 per month). 

It’s also the first Copilot service to give Microsoft’s non-business customers access to all those cool capabilities Microsoft demoed in March. Prior to this, their only option was a free Copilot tool that worked on the web or in their OS, but not in Microsoft’s productivity apps.

Copilot Pro users also get advanced AI image features that aren’t available with Copilot, including the ability to create images in landscape with DALL-E 3 and more daily “boosts” (tokens that enable faster image generation).

Copilot Pro subscribers have access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo models, which deliver faster performance, during peak hours, while Copilot users only have access during non-peak hours. 

They’ll also be able to make their own customized Copilot GPTs “with just a simple set of prompts” when Microsoft launches Copilot GPT Builder, a feature the company says is “coming soon.” 

Best of the rest: In addition to debuting Copilot Pro, Microsoft has also announced that Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now available to organizations of any size — no minimum number of accounts required.

It also shared a few updates for the free Copilot service, including a Copilot mobile app for Android and iOS, and announced that it has begun rolling out the Copilot tool in the Microsoft 365 app for account holders.

“Our goal is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more by bringing Copilot, the everyday AI companion, to millions of people around the world,” wrote Microsoft.

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