After having integrated generative artificial intelligence into a good part of its software and services, Microsoft seems to be trying to rationalize its costs a little in various ways, and in particular by forcing its adoption more and more into its office suite, even if it means increasing the costs.
In March 2023, the company announced the arrival of Copilot in its Office suite, promising improvements specific to each component. And last November, Microsoft even integrated generative AI into its famous Notepad editor (also called Bloc-notes in French).
If this technology has “dazzled” everyone, its insertion into almost all of the Redmond firm’s tools also has a significant cost. The company has invested nearly $14 billion in OpenAI and is now looking for ways to make it profitable.
Especially since the costs generated by the contract with OpenAI are not the only ones that Microsoft has agreed to in recent times regarding AI. As the New York Times explained, Microsoft also paid more than $650 million last March to hire a large part of the startup Inflection team, including its former CEO Mustafa Suleyman (also co-founder of DeepMind, acquired in 2014 by Google), which now oversees the integration of AI into Microsoft products.
Forced integration in certain regions
And this integration is now being done at full speed for users of the 365 office suite located in certain parts of the globe. In Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, Microsoft has integrated Copilot into the “Personal” and “Family” versions, while, for the rest of the world, the assistant is currently only accessible for the “Business” versions.
But this integration is mandatory and above all is accompanied by a price increase, which does not please everyone, indicates the Wall Street Journal. The American economic media explains that the bill for the 365 license has increased, in Australia, from 11 to 16 Australian dollars. And with its logo which appears at the end of each sentence to offer its help, Copilot is as discreet as Clippy, the old Office companion in the shape of a paperclip.
Reassure businesses
This forced integration does not yet concern the business offering. Microsoft must first reassure companies about the use of its AI in its software regarding data confidentiality. She initially reacted by recommending that they better classify their data so that Copilot does not reveal more or less sensitive information to employees who should not have access to it.
More recently, Microsoft explained that it would update, starting with version 22h2 of Windows 11, the Copilot “experience” in its products and in particular strengthen data protection.
The firm will extend corporate data protection, which already exists for 365 Copilot, to data used in Windows Copilot prompts and responses: “ Prompts and responses are protected by the same terms and commitments that our customers widely trust – not only for Copilot for Microsoft 365, but also for emails in Exchange and files in SharePoint », Explains the company. She promises that this new data protection will be done “ at no additional cost ».
Microsoft adds that “ to simplify the user experience », the company removes entry points to Copilot and in particular that in Windows (preview).
Competition for OpenAI at Microsoft
Finally, the company seems to want to put its partner’s tools in competition in its products. Indeed, Reuters recently learned that Microsoft plans to add artificial intelligence models from its own and other generative AI companies to power the Copilot of its 365 suite.
The press agency explains that this possibility would allow Microsoft to reduce costs and reduce the response time of its agent. The company nevertheless reaffirmed to the press agency that OpenAI remained its exclusive contact regarding the most advanced models.
