Microsoft Introduces New Artificial Intelligence Features At 53% Higher Price On Office Software

Microsoft will charge at least 53% higher to access artificial intelligence features (photo: dock. microsoft)

JAKARTA - Microsoft on Tuesday, July 18 announced that it will cost at least 53% higher to access new artificial intelligence (AI) features in its widely used office software. This provides an overview of the huge profits the company expects from this technology.

The company also announced that it will soon provide a safer version of Bing's search engine for businesses, with the aim of addressing their data protection concerns, increasing interest in AI, and competing better with Google.

At Inspire's virtual conference, the company stated that customers will pay 30 US dollars (IDR 450 thousand) per user, per month, to use an AI feature called "AI Copilot" in Microsoft 365. This feature is promised to help compile emails in Outlook, create documents on Word, and facilitate access to almost all employee data via orders from chatbots.

This additional fee will apply above monthly subscription fees ranging from 12.50 to 57 US dollars, so the AI Copilot feature can triple the cost for some Microsoft subscribers.

In an interview, Jared Spataro, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President, said that this AI feature will pay for itself through time savings and increased productivity. The AI Copilot feature can summarize calls on the Teams platform.

"The meeting summary no longer needs to be noted, or even present in several meetings," he said. "This really changes the way you work."

Spataro declined to predict revenue from this AI Copilot feature, which has been tested by at least 600 companies since its launch in March. This AI program, potentially expensive to operate, is not yet publicly available.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is also directing business attention on Bing Chat Enterprise, a bot in their search engine that can generate content and provide an understanding of the internet. This service is included in the subscription used by about 160 million workers.

Unlike public Bing which has been accessed by millions of users in recent months, this version of the business will not allow the user's data display or storage to train the underlying technology. An employee must enter with a work credentials to get this protection.

The launch of this service comes as industry concerns about staff entering classified information into public chatbots, which human reviewers can read or reproduce by AI with careful manipulation.

When asked if Bing users have been unprotected so far, Spataro said that Microsoft has clearly explained its privacy policy and is excited to bring AI to consumers. The company also announced the ability to upload images and search for related content, as Google does.

The company's push for Bing could help efforts to seize a search ad share from Google worth US$2 billion (Rp30 trillion) in revenue per percentage point earned. It can also attract customers to Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI upgrade that provides access to business data and compliance controls.

"This is a very strategic step for us," Spataro said.