无疑，Recently, Microsoft has forcefully integrated its AI assistant Copilot into the Microsoft 365 Consumer subscription service in Australia and several Southeast Asian countries, while also raising subscription prices, causing dissatisfaction among some users. Analysts stated that Microsoft has been making huge investments in AI, and this move to bundle the AI assistant emphasizes its determination to profit from its AI investments.
Microsoft's strong push for Copilot is being met with frustration from users, especially with the added costs.
Recently, Microsoft has forcibly integrated its AI assistant Copilot into the Microsoft 365 Consumer subscription service in Australia and several Southeast Asian countries, while simultaneously raising the subscription prices, for example, in Australia, the price has increased from 11 Australian Dollars/month to 16 Australian Dollars/month.
Undoubtedly, this move by Microsoft has triggered some dissatisfaction among users—those unwilling to pay extra for Copilot feel they have no choice. Some users on Social Media have noted that Copilot's pop-up reminders remind them of the notoriously criticized Office assistant Clippy from the late 90s.
Some users have stated that due to the inability to remove the AI feature and their unwillingness to accept the price increase, they must choose to cancel their personal Microsoft 365 subscription in favor of other alternative services.
Analysts say that Microsoft has been making huge investments in AI, and this move to force the bundling of the AI assistant highlights its determination to profit from AI investments, after all, Copilot is a key part of Microsoft's plan to expand its Consumer and Software Business.
According to reports, Microsoft internally regards Copilot as the first step in its AI Global Strategy, with the next focus on automation tools capable of handling more complex tasks.
However, in the competition with ChatGPT, Copilot is clearly at a disadvantage. According to Sensor Tower data, from May to mid-December 2023, Copilot's download count was 37 million, while ChatGPT's downloads soared to 0.433 billion. Additionally, Microsoft is facing pressure from competitors like Salesforce.
In addition to individual users, Microsoft is also promoting Copilot to enterprise software customers at a price of $30 per person. However, enterprise customers have concerns about the practicality, output accuracy, data protection, and cost-effectiveness of Copilot.
However, Microsoft stated that nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies are using Copilot, and the annualized scale of the company's AI-related revenue will soon exceed 10 billion dollars.