Microsoft is relaunching its free Copilot for companies as Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat as we speak, full with the power to make use of AI brokers. Copilot Chat is Microsoft’s newest try to get individuals used to utilizing AI at work and counting on it sufficient to tempt them into paying $30 per 30 days to get the complete Microsoft 365 Copilot.
“It’s free and safe AI chat that’s GPT-powered,” explains Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s chief advertising officer of AI at work, in an interview with The Verge. “You can add information so it’s very corresponding to the competitors, in actual fact we predict even at this stage it bests the competitors.” Spataro wouldn’t identify the competitors, but it surely’s clearly ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is basically a rebranding of what was as soon as Bing Chat Enterprise earlier than Microsoft rebranded it to simply Copilot. It crucially now consists of entry to Copilot AI brokers proper throughout the chat interface — which was beforehand solely out there within the full Microsoft 365 Copilot expertise — requiring a $30 per consumer per 30 days subscription. These brokers are designed to work like digital colleagues and may do issues like monitor e-mail inboxes or automate a sequence of duties.
You’ll have the ability to create and use brokers utilizing Copilot Studio, use brokers that depend on net knowledge, and even use brokers grounded on work knowledge by way of the Microsoft graph. The utilization of brokers with Copilot Chat will probably be priced by way of the Copilot Studio meter in Azure or by way of a pay-as-you-go possibility.
“The first query individuals ask me is ‘am I writing you a clean verify?’” says Spataro, however Microsoft has constructed controls for a way individuals pay for AI agent entry. “The approach you possibly can management the spinning of the meters is paying in several methods. One approach is pay-as-you-go, that’s primarily an open account or tab that you simply’re burning down, however the different solution to do it’s by way of consumption packs, and when the pack runs out you’re carried out.”
The pricing and consumption charges are just a little difficult, although. Microsoft measures agent utilization in messages, so basic solutions that don’t hit massive language fashions are priced as one message, whereas generative solutions value two messages and something accessing the Microsoft Graph (together with information saved in SharePoint) will value 30 messages.
“A message is equal to 1 cent, so you possibly can primarily convert it over to 1 cent, 2 cents, and 30 cents,” explains Spataro. “It spins an Azure meter and it burns down a buyer’s MACC (Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment).”
Microsoft gives some instance value calculations for companies that is likely to be tempted to make use of AI brokers by way of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat:
A hypothetical agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat makes use of knowledge saved in Microsoft Graph to reply worker questions on HR insurance policies. Yesterday, the agent consumed 200 generative solutions and 200 tenant Graph grounding for messages. Therefore, it might value 6,400 messages or $64 for that day.
The precise chat expertise in Copilot Chat is essentially unchanged, and it makes use of GPT-4o for queries. You may add information to Copilot Chat and have it summarize Word paperwork and even analyze knowledge in Excel spreadsheets. You can do the identical factor immediately inside Word or Excel should you pay for the complete Microsoft 365 Copilot, as an alternative of getting to add information manually. Spataro says Microsoft doesn’t have any plans to allow a trial mode of Microsoft 365 Copilot, but it surely’s clear Copilot Chat is designed to tempt companies into paying to get Copilot inside Office apps.
Copilot Chat is already well-liked amongst companies that depend on Microsoft software program and companies. “We had Bing Chat Enterprise that we renamed, and although the naming journey has been exhausting to trace and it’s exhausting to search out the product, now we have a exceptional variety of customers on it,” says Spataro. “What we discover is that while you begin to use it, you change into accustomed to and appreciative of the worth that it will possibly present at work.”
With an ongoing debate over the worth of a $30 per consumer per 30 days subscription to Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft will probably be hoping that Copilot Chat will help convert much more companies over to its AI mind-set.
