Microsoft is testing out bundling of its AI-powered Office features into Microsoft 365 subscriptions but only in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand for now.
As it takes a step back for Microsoft 365 Personal, however, Home subscribers have to pay another $20 per month to get access to AI-powered Office features.
“These changes bring the transformative power of AI to the personal productivity and creativity apps that millions of people use every day,” the company says.
The plan for Microsoft Personal costs $69.99 per year, while a Copilot Pro subscription is $20 per month. However, there is no option in the U.S. to get a discount by subscribing to both.
“It’s been nine months since we introduced consumers to Copilot in our Microsoft 365 apps via Copilot Pro. We’ve spent that time adding new features, improving performance, and listening carefully to customer feedback,” says Microsoft in a press release spotted by ZDNet. “Based on that feedback, we’re making Copilot part of our Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions.”
Microsoft also plans to add its Microsoft Designer app to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions. Microsoft explains, “Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers will receive a monthly allotment of AI credits to use Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Designer.”
“The credits will also apply to apps like Paint, Photos, and Notepad on Windows.”
Only the subscription owner will be able to access Copilot, and it cannot be shared with other family members.
“To reflect the value we’ve added over the past decade and enable us to deliver new innovations for years to come, we’re increasing the prices of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family,” says Microsoft.
Overall, Microsoft has carefully picked out the selected countries to test out the bundle, however, complete details for other countries haven’t been rolled out yet.
