Microsoft is relaunching its free Copilot for companies as Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat at the moment, full with the flexibility 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 thirty 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 and marketing officer of AI at work, in an interview with The Verge. “You may add recordsdata so it’s very corresponding to the competitors, the truth is we predict even at this degree it bests the competitors.” Spataro wouldn’t title the competitors, however it’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 contains entry to Copilot AI brokers proper inside the chat interface — which was beforehand solely out there within the full Microsoft 365 Copilot expertise — requiring a $30 per consumer per thirty days subscription. These brokers are designed to work like digital colleagues and may do issues like monitor e mail inboxes or automate a collection of duties.
You’ll be capable of create and use brokers utilizing Copilot Studio, use brokers that depend on internet knowledge, and even use brokers grounded on work knowledge by way of the Microsoft graph. The utilization of brokers with Copilot Chat might be priced by way of the Copilot Studio meter in Azure or by way of a pay-as-you-go choice.
“The primary query individuals ask me is ‘am I writing you a clean verify?’” says Spataro, however Microsoft has constructed controls for the way individuals pay for AI agent entry. “The best way you possibly can management the spinning of the meters is paying in several methods. A method is pay-as-you-go, that’s basically an open account or tab that you simply’re burning down, however the different option to do it’s by way of consumption packs, and when the pack runs out you’re accomplished.”
The pricing and consumption charges are a bit sophisticated, 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 recordsdata saved in SharePoint) will value 30 messages.
“A message is equal to 1 cent, so you possibly can basically 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 Dedication).”
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. Subsequently, it will value 6,400 messages or $64 for that day.
The precise chat expertise in Copilot Chat is basically unchanged, and it makes use of GPT-4o for queries. You can even add recordsdata to Copilot Chat and have it summarize Phrase paperwork and even analyze knowledge in Excel spreadsheets. You are able to do the identical factor straight inside Phrase or Excel should you pay for the complete Microsoft 365 Copilot, as a substitute of getting to add recordsdata manually. Spataro says Microsoft doesn’t have any plans to allow a trial mode of Microsoft 365 Copilot, however it’s clear Copilot Chat is designed to tempt companies into paying to get Copilot inside Workplace apps.
Copilot Chat is already common amongst companies that depend on Microsoft software program and providers. “We had Bing Chat Enterprise that we renamed, and although the naming journey has been onerous to trace and it’s onerous to search out the product, we now have a exceptional variety of customers on it,” says Spataro. “What we discover is that whenever you begin to use it, you change into accustomed to and appreciative of the worth that it may possibly present at work.”
With an ongoing debate over the worth of a $30 per consumer per thirty days subscription to Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft might be hoping that Copilot Chat might help convert much more companies over to its AI mind-set.
