Copilot for Business Relaunches with Flexible Pay-As-You-Go AI Agents

Microsoft’s recent announcement showcased Copilot Chat, a fresh feature that brings pay-as-you-go agents to its existing free chat system for Microsoft 365 commercial users. This new tool comes with a suite of enhancements, such as the incorporation of OpenAI’s GPT-4o model to enable seamless and secure interactions with the AI, as well as Agents designed to automate routine tasks. Businesses also benefit from IT controls covering data protection and agent management.

The introduction of this feature is a strategic move by Microsoft to encourage more users to tap into its AI capabilities. Previously, creating agents was a feature confined to Microsoft’s $30/month 365 Copilot service. However, this relaunch underlines Microsoft’s intent to broaden its user base by integrating these capabilities into its free offerings.

Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s CMO of AI at Work, spoke with The Verge about Copilot Chat, saying, “It’s free and secure AI chat that’s GPT-powered. You can upload files, making it very comparable to the competition. In fact, we think even at this level it surpasses the competition.”

Mary Jo Foley from Directions On Microsoft reports that this new feature will be accessible to users signed in with Entra ID accounts. This mirrors the method of accessing Copilot Chat’s forerunner, Bing Chat Enterprise. Microsoft has further refined Bing Chat Enterprise by adding features like Enterprise Data Protection to ensure all prompts and responses are retained safely within Microsoft 365’s boundaries.

For those with Entra IDs, creating AI agents with Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is free. However, setting up Pay-As-You-Go licensing in Azure and using Copilot Studio’s metering is essential for agent creation.

Now, let’s dive into the pricing. The cost setup isn’t straightforward. Microsoft’s pricing strategy measures agent usage through message counts. Essentially, a simple query that doesn’t require advanced AI is counted as one message whereas more sophisticated responses involve two messages.

Interestingly, advanced model responses that may access Microsoft Graph register as 30 messages each. As Spataro explains, “A message is equivalent to 1 cent—so you can translate it to 1 cent, 2 cents, and 30 cents.”

To clarify further, Spataro outlined the service’s pricing model by saying, “The first question people ask me is ‘am I writing you a blank check?’ You can manage the costs in different ways. You could choose pay-as-you-go, which means you’re using an open account, or go through consumption packs where, once the pack’s done, you’re finished.”

Despite Microsoft’s claim that about 70% of Fortune 500 employees are engaged with Copilot AI, there are whispers of premature launch concerns that could lead to customer dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, Spataro asserts that Copilot Chat is gaining traction among organizations using Microsoft’s services: “Despite the complexity in tracking the naming journey and finding the product initially, many users realize and value the benefits it brings to the workplace once they start using it.”

However, privacy and security are still challenging issues that linger, even as CEO Satya Nadella pivots his focus following numerous security mishaps. One employee highlighted that the tool “works very efficiently at sharing information that the customer didn’t want or expect to be shared.”

In response to whether Microsoft’s entry with Copilot Chat and the updated pricing will boost traffic to its AI services, the reception remains uncertain. With reports indicating that Microsoft leans heavily on third-party vendors for its AI applications, some senior executives perceive Copilot AI tools as mere gimmicks rather than game-changers.

For those intrigued by the tech world, this story is far from over, and challenges still lie ahead for Microsoft’s Copilot endeavors.