Remember when Microsoft unveiled that ChatGPT-powered Bing chatbot last year? Well, they’re back with some new twists on that AI assistant now dubbed “Copilot.”
First up, they just launched Copilot Pro, a $20 per month subscription for power users. It gets you early access to the latest AI advances from ChatGPT, plus some extras like Copilot built into Microsoft Office programs.
There’s also a bunch of new specialized Copilots focused on specific topics like fitness, cooking, travel and more. Microsoft’s calling them “Copilot GPTs.” Pretty confusing name if you ask me! But basically they let you customize Copilot around niche interests, instead of just general info searches.
Down the road, Copilot Pro subscribers will even be able to build their own bespoke Copilot GPTs. So get ready for some truly weird and wacky AI creations once that feature opens up.
Oh, and those Copilot smartphone apps that were testing out last month? They’re now available to everyone. So you can chat with Copilot on the go.
Clearly Microsoft is going all in on this AI assistant idea. But I gotta wonder – how many average Joes will actually cough up $240 per year for a question-answering bot?
My guess is Copilot Pro is really aiming more at power users, developers and businesses who constantly need AI to help with projects and tasks. And for companies, Copilot integration with Microsoft 365 now only costs $30 more per employee. So for organizations relying on Office, it could be a no-brainer.
Still, monetizing Copilot is crucial for Microsoft after they sank $13 billion into the company behind it – OpenAI. That was a huge bet on AI being the next big computing platform. Now we get to see if it’ll pay off as Copilot spreads its wings.
