Microsoft has removed its biggest barrier for SMEs wanting to use its AI

The AI train is still chugging along in 2024, with Microsoft announcing an extension to its AI Copilot — Copilot Pro. It also dropped some interesting news for SMEs, opening up the availability of its Copilot for Microsoft 365 product to businesses of all sizes.

Microsoft’s Copilot is the latest AI to get a ‘pro’ version

Copilot Pro, designed for individual users, is available at US$20 per month per user, offering advanced features that Microsoft says will help boost productivity.

While more geared towards individuals, Copilot Pro still offers business-related AI tools across multiple devices, catering to tasks such as writing, coding, designing and research. The new service grants users access to the latest AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo, and enhances image creation with Image Creator from Designer.

Microsoft has also introduced the Copilot mobile app for Android and iOS, extending the reach of Copilot’s capabilities to mobile devices. It won’t just allow access on multiple devices but will save queries across them as well — including Dall-E 3 for image generation.

This move is part of Microsoft’s ongoing strategy to heavily integrate AI across its product portfolio and keep users on the platform.

Interestingly, Copilot Pro subscribers will soon be able to build custom Copilot GPTs tailored to specific topics using the Copilot GPT Builder.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 will now be accessible for SMEs

Meanwhile, Copilot for Microsoft 365 — which was previously accessible primarily to larger enterprises —  is now available for small and medium-sized businesses.

Microsoft has removed the former 300-seat minimum requirements and introduced a flexible subscription model starting at US$30 per person per month.

It’s worth noting that at the present time the Australian pricing has yet to be announced.

However, Copilot for Microsoft 365 can be used across a variety of applications, including Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. It can be used to generate status updates, analyse data and manage emails

The rapid expansion of Copilot for Microsoft 365 signals a trend from Microsoft that we have seen over the past 12 months — a response to market demand in the wake of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Microsoft has been invested in ChatGPT since 2019 and to date it has dropped roughly US$13 billion into the company. So it wasn’t particularly surprising to see it swiftly push out its own generative AI offerings at the beginning of 2023.

The inclusion of the Copilot GPT builder with Copilot Pro feels like an extension of that strategy.

OpenAI also launched its own various pro versions of ChatGPT last year. This was followed by a GPT Builder and store in the latter months of 2023. It was supposed to be released in December but was pushed back. It was speculated at the time that this was at least partially due to the time sink that went into the firing and rehiring of CEO Sam Altman and subsequent restructuring.

Considering how close the two companies are (including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella publicly advocating for Sam Altman during the firing drama, and even offering him a job) none of this is particularly surprising. We’ll probably see most big tech companies playing in the generative AI space offer this over the next year or so.

The more interesting play here is Microsoft’s concerted effort to attract and retain a broader range of businesses by removing the previous 300-seat minimum requirements. In fact, Divya Kumar, global head of marketing for search and AI at Microsoft, said that the removal of the seat minimum was a direct response to the demand from smaller businesses.

This is great news for SME accessibility, allowing them to integrate AI into their Microsoft workflows if they so desire. But it certainly won’t be the last we hear from big tech clawing for enterprise market share in the AI space this year. Between this January news and Google squeezing its own Gemini products into the tail end of 2023, the AI rat race is clearly just getting started.