Microsoft makes Copilot AI assistant more widely available

Microsoft is making its Copilot AI assistant more freely available to more users, including launching a free mobile app for Android and iOS.

Copilot is the tech giant’s generative AI chatbot and assistant, which can be used to create content as well as help users with productivity tasks.

First launched last year and initially only made available to Microsoft 365 enterprise customers at businesses of a certain size, Microsoft said it was now making Copilot available to all Microsoft 365 users, as well as introducing a new subscription for so-called “power users”, which will include a wider range of AI tools.

In addition, the US tech firm said it was also introducing Copilot GPTs, smaller versions of the chatbot which users can customise to focus on a single topic of interest, for example travel or cooking.

“With today’s announcements, we continue to bring Copilot to more customers with more options that work for them,” Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s consumer chief marketing officer said.

“Whether you’re looking to get started with Copilot for free, want to supercharge your Copilot experience with Copilot Pro or are an SMB or Enterprise customer looking to increase your productivity in new ways with Copilot for Microsoft 365, there’s a Copilot experience for everyone.”

Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed that it was changing the set-up of its Windows keyboards for the first time in nearly 30 years by introducing a dedicated Copilot key – which would launch the assistant whenever pressed – and would being appearing on new Windows 11 devices from later this year.

“As we kick off a new year, we’re thrilled to see people increasingly using and loving Microsoft Copilot for work and life,” Mr Mehdi said.

“Our goal is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more by bringing Copilot, the everyday AI companion, to millions of people around the world.”