- Copilot is now included in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family
- Users can now access Copilot in Word, Excel, Outlook and more
- But subscription costs will increase to pay for the new features.
Microsoft has revealed that its Copilot AI offerings will now be available to more users around the world, but the launch will come with a slightly higher price tag.
The company announced that Copilot, along with Microsoft Designer, is now part of the Microsoft 365 subscription for Personal and Family tiers worldwide, bringing artificial intelligence tools to millions more users.
However, the launch will mean an increase in subscription costs, with Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions in the US increasing by $3.
Microsoft Copilot for everyone
“Our plan has always been to make Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps more accessible to a broader audience at a great price,” Bryan Rognier, vice president of Microsoft 365 Consumer, wrote in a blog post announcing the news.
“These changes bring the transformative power of AI to the personal productivity tools that millions of people use every day.”
Microsoft believes the move will bring Copilot to “the majority of” its 84 million consumer subscribers for popular programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote.
It will also open Microsoft Designer, the company’s AI-powered image generator, which can be used to edit photos, create logos, and more.
The company says Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers will receive a monthly allotment of AI credits to use Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, which can also be used for Designer AI image generation and editing. .
For those unsure about the price increases, Microsoft says existing subscribers with recurring billing enabled with Microsoft can switch to plans without Copilot or AI credits, like its Basic plan, or for a limited time, switch to the new Personal plans Classic or Family Classic. .
The company had already recently announced a move to bring artificial intelligence tools to all Microsoft 365 business users with the launch of Copilot Chat, a secure artificial intelligence chat service powered by GPT-4o that was an update to the current tool free chat on your office software platform. .
It also comes shortly after Google announced that its Gemini AI offering would also roll out to all tiers of its office software.
The company revealed that all Google Workspace tiers will now have access to Gemini at no additional cost, as they previously had to spend more on an additional add-on, although some users will see their subscription costs increase as a result.
