Microsoft Reportedly Bundling Copilot AI With Microsoft 365 Subscription and Hiking Prices

Microsoft is reportedly making changes to its Microsoft 365 subscription in some regions to bring Copilot to more users. As per the report, the Redmond-based tech giant has started bundling the Copilot AI assistant, which is available across multiple apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, with the subscription. This new addition is not free of cost as the company is said to have increased the price of its cloud-based service in those regions. It is unclear whether Microsoft plans to introduce the same strategy in other countries as well.

Microsoft 365 Subscription With Copilot

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the tech giant has started rolling out a new feature with its standard Microsoft 365 subscription in Australia and multiple Southeast Asian countries. This change reportedly does not require any action from the user's end, and there is no way to exclude the AI chatbot from this service.

In normal circumstances, the addition of a new feature would have been a positive change, however, the company has reportedly also hiked the price of the subscription in these regions, likely to offset the cost of Copilot. This means unlike the US, India, and other countries, these regions do not have an option to choose whether they want the AI features or not.

Citing the example of Alistair Fleming, an Australian YouTuber, the report claimed that Microsoft is also pushing aggressively to make users try out the AI features. Fleming, who writes his video scripts on Word, is reportedly getting reminder notifications from Copilot after every line. The AI assistant's logo is said to pop up with a message that says it can help with the user's writing.

“It was very keen to be used, and this was irritating to me as a user,” Fleming told the publication. Additionally, he also claimed that his Microsoft 365 subscription increased from AUD 11 (roughly Rs. 585) to AUD 16 (roughly Rs. 852). It is unclear whether the company sent out emails informing users about this change and price hike.

This is likely an experimental rollout, but there is no clarity if this will be expanded to other regions. In India, the standard Microsoft 365 subscription does not come with Copilot features. To use the AI assistant, users can choose to pay an additional Rs. 2,495 a month for the Copilot 365 add-on. The same add-on strategy is also followed by the company's rival Google.