Microsoft Integrates OpenAI's GPT-5 into Copilot Ecosystem, Offering Free Access to Advanced AI

Microsoft brings GPT-5 to Copilot with new smart mode

OpenAI officially launched its new GPT-5 models today, and Microsoft is now bringing GPT-5 to Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Azure AI Foundry, GitHub Copilot, and more. It's part of a big simultaneous release of GPT-5 that will show up in Copilot as the new smart mode that I detailed in Notepad last month. The new smart mode in Copilot allows the AI assistant to switch models for you to use deeper reasoning or quickly respond based on the task. Much like how OpenAI is making GPT-5 available to free users of ChatGPT, Copilot will also have free access to GPT-5. Microsoft 365 Copilot users will also get access to GPT-5 today. "With GPT-5, Microsoft 365 Copilot is better at reasoning through complex questions, staying on track in longer conversations and understanding the user's context," explains Microsoft in a blog post. GitHub is also bringing GPT-5 to all paid GitHub Copilot plans today, allowing developers to try out the code writing improvements to OpenAI's latest model. OpenAI's new GPT-5 model comes in four different versions, and has big improvements in reasoning and code quality. GPT-5 is designed for logic and multi-step tasks, while GPT-5-chat is tuned for enterprise applications with multimodal context-aware conversations. Finally, Microsoft is also making GPT-5 available through Azure AI Foundry, so developers can utilize it in AI-powered apps. Developers will be able to use the model router in Azure AI Foundry "to ensure the right model is used" for the task or query.

OpenAI launches GPT-5 in GitHub Copilot public preview -- the biggest leap yet in AI coding assistants?

OpenAI GPT-5 is now available in public preview for GitHub Copilot, bringing a major upgrade to how developers code with AI. With smarter suggestions, faster responses, and deeper understanding, GPT-5 makes coding easier for professionals and beginners alike. This update is part of Microsoft's broader rollout across Copilot tools in GitHub, Microsoft 365, and Azure. Whether you're building apps, debugging, or exploring new languages, GPT-5 now acts like a real coding partner -- right inside your tools.

You Can Use GPT-5 for Free in Microsoft Copilot

Users can try it out in Copilot's Smart mode, while GitHub developers need a paid plan to access the latest AI model. OpenAI has just released its most powerful GPT-5 model, and it's rolling out for free in ChatGPT. Meanwhile, Microsoft is also bringing OpenAI's GPT-5 model for free to Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Copilot Studio, and Azure AI. In fact, GPT-5 is already live in the Copilot app on my Windows 11 PC, accessible via the 'Smart' mode. Microsoft announced in its latest blog post that the company is integrating OpenAI's latest GPT-5 model into its Copilot AI. You will find it within the Smart mode option, which uses the GPT-5 model to respond quickly or think deeply, depending on the complexity of the query. It will be free to use, similar to how OpenAI is not gatekeeping GPT-5 behind a premium subscription this time. Microsoft mentioned in its post, "With GPT-5, Microsoft 365 Copilot is better at reasoning through complex questions, staying on track in longer conversations, and understanding the user's context." That being said, GitHub developers will need the GitHub Copilot plan if they want to use the latest GPT-5 model. Azure AI Foundry users can also employ GPT-5 from the model router starting today to build their AI apps. OpenAI's GPT-5 will be a big help for developers, since it features major advancements in code quality and reasoning. It's also multimodal and can generate context-aware conversations, with improved performance in multi-step tasks. So if you use Copilot, then try out GPT-5 today!