Last year, Microsoft launched Microsoft 365 Copilot as a subscription service that costs $30 per user per month for organizations as an add-on for Microsoft 365 users. Early this year, Microsoft launched Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, a subset of Microsoft 365 Copilot, that was made available for free to all Microsoft 365 subscribers.
Early this year, Google surprised everyone by announcing Gemini availability for all Google Workspace users without any additional add-ons. Google slightly increased its Workspace subscription price, but included the full Gemini capability for users to enjoy.
It seems Microsoft is now responding to Google"s move by bringing more Microsoft 365 Copilot features to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat users. At Ignite, Microsoft today announced that Copilot Chat will be available inside Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for users even without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. This capability will be available in preview by March 2026. Copilot Chat in Outlook will be able to respond to users" prompts by taking the entire inbox, calendar, and meetings in context.
Microsoft today also announced the following two new capabilities coming to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat:
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat can now create Copilot Pages, which will help users write or iterate on ideas with Copilot"s help. It is more suitable for planning, writing, brainstorming, and other use cases. Copilot can even convert the page into a PowerPoint presentation.
- Copilot Chat users in the Frontier enterprise program can now create SharePoint pages and lists. For example, users can prompt things like "create a list of my top-selling products by geography".
For small businesses that need advanced AI capabilities, Microsoft is introducing the Microsoft 365 Copilot Business plan specifically targeting SMBs with fewer than 300 seats. This new plan will cost $21 per user per month, and it will be generally available in December. Through Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, SMBs can use and create AI agents, use AI to process their internal organizational content, access premium models, and more.