Software giant Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is set to expand its consumer base with the introduction of a new $20 per month AI subscription service aimed at individual consumers and small businesses.
What Happened: In a bold move, Microsoft is set to offer a paid version of its artificial intelligence “Copilot” service, known as Copilot Pro, according to a report by Reuters. This comes after the company rolled out a free AI Copilot version for its Bing search engine last year.
The subscription service offers an AI assistant for drafting texts and crunching numbers on widely-used applications such as Word and Excel. In addition to this, subscribers will have access to new tools and AI models such as GPT-4 Turbo.
Microsoft has also removed the 300-person minimum requirement for purchasing the enterprise version of its software, making the security controls and Microsoft Teams upgrade, which comes with the $30 per month per user Copilot, available to smaller businesses.
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Why It Matters: Over the years, Microsoft has made significant strides in AI technology. In December, the company introduced the AI-driven standalone Copilot app exclusively for Android users, offering chatbot features and text composition for emails and documents.
Earlier this month, Microsoft also embedded a dedicated Copilot key into Windows PCs and laptops, providing instant access to the AI-powered Windows Copilot experience.
Despite a slow start, Copilot has shown promise, as highlighted by Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin, who reiterated Microsoft as a favorite AI All-Star stock after attending developer sessions at a Microsoft AI event in San Francisco.
With this latest move, Microsoft is positioned to compete with the likes of Alphabet Inc‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Bard and DeepMind in the consumer AI market. Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President, Jared Spataro, believes that the integration of Copilot Pro into everyday applications will give it a competitive edge.
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