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Written by: Mohammad Al-Amin Mohd Jahaya, Journalist, AOPG

The competition in the realm of generative AI is intensifying, with Microsoft making waves through the expansion of its Microsoft Copilot Pro subscription service into more markets, totalling 22 countries worldwide.

The enhanced “Pro” version of CoPilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant chatbot/tool geared towards boosting work efficiency, now offers subscribers priority access to the latest OpenAI models. Subscribers can also craft their personalised Copilot GPTs and seamlessly utilise Copilot within Office apps, provided they’re already subscribed to Microsoft 365 Personal or Home.

In a significant move, Microsoft is extending Copilot Pro functionality to Office web apps, eliminating the need for a separate Microsoft 365 subscription to leverage the chatbot within Word, Outlook, and other free web applications. Moreover, Divya Kumar, General Manager of Search and AI Marketing at Microsoft, has hinted at plans to integrate CoPilot into their free mobile apps, including Microsoft 365 and Outlook apps for iOS and Android, in the coming months.

Simultaneously, Microsoft upgraded the free tier of Copilot, now integrating the powerful GPT-4 Turbo model. Accessible to users of the free version, GPT-4 Turbo offers advanced capabilities, including handling text-to-speech prompts and accepting a context window of 128,000 tokens — the largest capacity among GPT versions.

While GPT-4 Turbo is accessible to free users, certain features are reserved for paid subscribers, such as priority access and personalisation options. Free users can only access GPT-4 Turbo during off-peak times and miss out on personalised functionalities.

Here’s a breakdown of the key differences between CoPilot Pro and CoPilot Free versions:

Microsoft CoPilot Pro Version

• Get priority access to GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo even during peak times for faster performance.
• Build your own Copilot GPTs tailored to your individual needs and interests.
• Use Copilot in productivity apps^Footnote1 like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook (Microsoft email address required).
• Generate unique images and then enhance your creations using 100 daily boosts with Designer.

Microsoft CoPilot Free Version

• Use Copilot on the web and in Windows, macOS, and iPadOS.
• Access GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo during non-peak times.
• Use text, voice, and images in conversational search.
• Create and edit AI images with 15 boosts per day with the Designer.
• Use plug-ins and GPTs.

Microsoft launched Copilot last year to add AI across its platforms. The AI assistant is available online and is also baked into Windows 11, the Bing search engine, Microsoft 365 and the Edge browser.

Interestingly, Microsoft is launching a free one-month trial to entice consumers to subscribe to its AI vision of the future, but it comes with a catch. If you want to try out Microsoft Copilot Pro, you’ll need to install the Copilot app on iOS or Android to get the free month offer. Microsoft has been desperately trying to entice consumers to use the Copilot mobile app since launching it at the end of 2023.

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