"Forced" users to use Copilot! Microsoft is going all out for AI

Microsoft strongly promotes Copilot and requires additional fees, leaving users feeling dissatisfied. Recently, Microsoft has forcibly integrated its AI assistant Copilot into the Microsoft 365 consumer subscription service in Australia and several Southeast Asian countries, while simultaneously raising subscription prices, for example, the price in Australia increased from AUD 11/month to AUD 16/month. Undoubtedly, this move by Microsoft has sparked dissatisfaction among some users—for those unwilling to pay extra for Copilot, they have no choice. Some users expressed on social media that the pop-up reminders from Copilot remind them of the widely criticized Office assistant Clippy from the late 90s. Some users also stated that due to the inability to remove the AI feature and unwillingness to accept the price increase, they could only choose to cancel their personal 365 subscription and switch to other alternative services. Analysts say that Microsoft has been making huge investments in AI, and this move to forcibly bundle the AI assistant highlights its determination to profit from its AI investments, after all, Copilot is a key part of Microsoft's plan to expand its consumer base and enterprise software business. Reports indicate that Microsoft internally views Copilot as the first step in its AI strategy, with the next focus being on automation tools capable of handling more complex tasks. However, in the competition with ChatGPT, Copilot clearly does not have the upper hand. According to Sensor Tower data, from May 2023 to mid-December, Copilot was downloaded 37 million times, while ChatGPT's downloads reached 433 million. Additionally, Microsoft is also facing pressure from competitors like Salesforce. In addition to individual users, Microsoft is also promoting Copilot to enterprise software customers at a price of $30 per person. However, enterprise customers have concerns regarding the practicality, output accuracy, data protection, and cost-effectiveness of Copilot. Nevertheless, Microsoft stated that nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies are using Copilot, and the annualized scale of the company's AI-related revenue will soon exceed $10 billion