- Copilot is now included in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family
- Users can now access Copilot across Word, Excel, Outlook and more
- But subscription costs will increase to pay for the new features
Microsoft has revealed that its Copilot AI offering will now be available to more users worldwide – but the launch will come at a slightly increased price.
The company has announced that Copilot, along with Microsoft Designer, is now part of the Microsoft 365 subscription for personal and family tiers worldwide, bringing AI tools to millions of 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 wider audience at a great price,” wrote Bryan Rognier, Vice President, Microsoft 365 Consumer, 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 “most of” its 84 million consumer subscribers for popular programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote.
It will also open up Microsoft Designer, the company’s AI-powered image generator, which can be used for photo editing, logo creation, 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’s 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, such as its Basic plan, or for a limited time switch to the new Personal Classic – or Family Classic plans.
The company had already recently announced a move to bring AI tools to all Microsoft 365 users with the launch of Copilot Chat, a secure AI chat service powered by GPT-4o, which was an upgrade to the current free chat tool in its office software platform.
It also comes shortly after Google announced that its Gemini AI offering would also be rolled out to all tiers of its office software.
The company revealed that all Google Workspace tiers will now get access to Gemini at no extra cost, having previously had to spend more for an extra add-on — though some users will see their subscription costs increase as a result.
