Microsoft 365 Will Now Cost You 30% More, Thanks to AI Copilot

Microsoft is apparently betting big on user adoption of its Copilot AI tool, now being bundled in with Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family. And that bundling comes with a price tag attached, according to Bloomberg.

Those who opt to go with a Microsoft 365 Family plan will see their subscription increase in cost by about 30% (or about $3 per month, as The Register suggested), to $129.99. Meanwhile, the slimmer Microsoft 365 Personal subscription is being hiked upward in price by a significant 43%, to $99.99.

Microsoft 365 Family and Personal Plans Now Incorporate Copilot, Designer

It costs a lot of money to create AI tools, as well as to power them through deployment, as artificial intelligence is notoriously energy- and resource-intensive. As Bloomberg reported, Microsoft has partnered with Gen AI pioneer OpenAI to infuse its products — across multiple categories — with AI tech capable of analyzing text, images, and more. The outlet reported that Microsoft had spent tens of billions of dollars in this focus area and is seeking a return on investment.

“We’re building on those 12 years of innovation by bringing Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Designer to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers in most markets worldwide. These changes bring the transformative power of AI to the personal productivity tools that millions of people use every day. Note: these changes only apply to our consumer subscription plans,” Microsoft exec Bryan Rognier wrote on the company’s blog.

Rognier went on to describe the various utilities that Copilot brings to the table, including assisted writing (in this case, meal prep ideas and recipe generation) in Word, help with household budgeting via incorporation into Excel, vacation planning in PowerPoint, email chain summarization in Outlook, and brainstorming (and brain-dumping) with a single prompt in OneNote.

Additionally, Rognier indicated that Microsoft Designer would be part of the package deal.

“Furthermore, we’re making our newest app, Microsoft Designer, part of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family by providing subscribers with the opportunity to do more image creation and editing than our free users. In addition to accessing Designer within apps like Word and PowerPoint, you can also use the standalone Designer app on the web and mobile. Use Designer to create eye-catching images by simply describing what you’re looking for or choosing from pre-populated ideas. Plus, expertly edit your photos with AI by erasing unwanted objects with ease,” Rognier explained.

Early Feedback From Microsoft 365 Users Mixed, at Best, Over Copilot AI Move

Profiling selected feedback from various users, both Bloomberg and The Register published a variety of consumer complaints.

“It’s very annoying, and frankly I’m considering simply canceling entirely and just using Google Docs in the future,” said Daniel Burke, an Australian game developer.

“Companies like Microsoft have spent so much on building AI up that now they need to force it on people,” said Kate Littlejohn, an Australian teacher and university tutor. “I’m relieved that I found a way to opt out, but it shouldn’t be so difficult.”

One source of irritation for many users? The fact that Microsoft, as yet, has not provided end users with the ability to disable the “draft with Copilot” capability.

“One user described the omnipresent Copilot draft icon as ‘intensely annoying.’ Another described it as ‘distracting’ and ‘infuriating.’ One user summed it up with: ‘Absolutely bad form, forcing this on us and not giving us the option to turn it off,’” The Register detailed.

While the Copilot functionality may not be able to be turned off at this time, users can, in fact, opt out of the Microsoft 365 plans that include the service, cutting off the “problem” at its root.

As the Microsoft blog outlined, those users looking for a bundle not including Copilot or AI credits could simply switch over to a Basic plan, or, for a limited time, the Personal Classic or Family Classic plans.