Microsoft Unveils AI-Powered 365 Premium: A New Era of Productivity

Want More AI With Your Microsoft Office? It's Arriving in a 365 Premium Version

Microsoft 365 Premium will cost $20 a month and adds Copilot AI features and apps to Office. Microsoft on Wednesday announced a new version of Microsoft 365 that's embedded from top to bottom with AI features -- for twice the monthly price of its Personal plan. Unlike the $10 Personal and $13 Family plans, however, Microsoft 365 Premium includes higher limits on AI features like image creation. It also adds access to some of the company's Copilot tools including Researcher, Analyst, Photos Agent and Actions for up to six people at $20. Microsoft has been working features such as Agent Mode into its popular Office apps, but has not previously offered a full bundle of AI-driven software for people outside business settings. It also recently added the option to use Anthropic's Claude AI models with Copilot. ChatGPT's 4o image generation has also been part of Copilot since earlier this year. In an interesting wrinkle, Microsoft said in a blog post that the AI features will only be available to the subscription owner and can't be shared. The Copilot features for Excel will also not work unless a file set to AutoSave and shared to OneDrive. Microsoft has even updated its icons for apps such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint to "reflect the new era of AI." The new app icons look more three-dimensional than previous iterations -- a bit like gummi candies. Those app icon changes will roll out to all 365 users over the next few weeks across desktop and mobile versions of the software. So what's new in the 365 Premium version? According to Microsoft the subscription includes: If you aren't upgrading to 365 Premium, you'll still get some new features and changes beyond the refreshed icons. Those changes include: Microsoft said it's also adding ways for people to access their home documents from work, and vice-versa, securely with an account switcher option that will also work with the new Copilot apps including Researcher and Analyst. According to Microsoft, its data suggests that 82% of AI users are bringing their own AI tools to work.

Microsoft wants to help you be as productive as possible with a new Microsoft 365 plan

Summary Microsoft launches Microsoft 365 Premium, introducing broad Copilot AI capabilities across Office applications. Copilot Pro has been discontinued; subscribers will automatically upgrade to Microsoft 365 Premium. Premium adds Researcher and Analyst agents, higher usage limits, 1 TB storage, and Defender. It shouldn't come as a surprise when I say that Microsoft's AI assistant, Copilot, has been integrated across the entirety of the company's ecosystem. While we see Copilot get new features for all of its implementations, none manage to come close to the amount of attention Microsoft has poured into the Office integration. It feels like every month we get something new added to the suite, and they're not small updates, either. Now, Microsoft has seemingly shown its hand. The company is announcing a new tier of its productivity subscription, Microsoft 365 Premium, and it contains a ton of AI-based features. And if that isn't proof enough, it also marks the removal of a previous paid plan that was likely Microsoft's planned golden goose in the past. Microsoft 365 Premium has arrived, and Copilot Pro is bowing out In a blog post, Microsoft takes the time to explain what exactly Microsoft 365 Premium is. It's intended to be an upgrade to the basic Microsoft 365 tiers, rather than a replacement, and with that upgrade come some new and exciting features. As you might expect, many of those features are based on Copilot integration. Here's the list Microsoft gave us: Our trusted Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook desktop apps with Copilot built in Access to Researcher and Analyst -- powerful reasoning agents announced for our commercial customers earlier this year (available in the Microsoft 365 Copilot desktop app today and coming soon to the Word, PowerPoint, and Excel apps) Our highest usage limits for select features like 4o Image Generation and Voice (coming soon) in the Microsoft 365 Copilot, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook apps Our highest usage limits for select features like 4o Image Generation, Podcasts, Deep Research, Vision, and Actions in the Copilot app Access to our new Photos Agent in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app 1 TB of secure cloud storage per person Microsoft Defender advanced security And much more... Now, you may be wondering: why did Microsoft add a ton of AI tools to Microsoft 365 Premium while it already has its AI-based subscription service, Copilot Pro? The reason is quite simple: the company is discontinuing Copilot Pro. Announced at the start of Microsoft's big push for Copilot+ devices, Copilot Pro was likely envisioned to be a subscription service that delivers AI tools across all facets of life. Now that it's being superseded by Microsoft 365 Premium, there's a good chance that the Redmond giant wants to take a more productivity-focused approach for its AI plans. Fortunately, all Copilot Pro subscribers are being automatically transferred to Microsoft 365 Premium, so nothing is lost in that transition. As such, you can now subscribe to Microsoft 365 Premium and get both the benefits of the regular 365 plan and Copilot Pro for just $19.99 a month. Microsoft is also adding some nice bonuses for people not on the Premium plan. Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers can now get higher usage limits on 4o image generation, Voice, Podcasts, Vision, and Deep Research, so be sure to check those out if you're not going for the Premium plan.

Microsoft launches 365 Premium with Copilot AI assistant

Oct 1 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab on Wednesday unveiled Microsoft 365 Premium for individuals at $19.99 a month that bundles the company's Copilot artificial intelligence assistant across apps including Outlook, Excel and Word. The launch marks a shift to simplify and integrate the company's AI offerings more deeply into core products for individual users at a time when technology firms are racing to monetize their investments in advanced AI tools. The company said the plan includes its highest Copilot usage limits and exclusive features such as Researcher, Analyst and Actions, combined with one-terabyte of cloud storage and Microsoft Defender advanced security. The company will stop selling Copilot Pro and existing Copilot Pro and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family customers can switch to Premium. Microsoft, which also has a free version of Copilot, had launched its Copilot Pro at $20 per month last year. OpenAI also offers its ChatGPT Plus for $20 per month. Microsoft added that Personal and Family subscribers will get higher Copilot usage limits to select Copilot features at no extra cost. Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Microsoft launches AI and productivity software bundle for consumers

Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft, speaks at a company briefing in Redmond, Wash., on May 20, 2024. Microsoft unveiled a new category of PC that features generative artificial intelligence tools built into Windows, the company's world-leading operating system. Microsoft said Wednesday that it will stop promoting a consumer subscription for artificial intelligence services and introduced a bundle blending AI features with traditional productivity apps. The software company introduced Copilot Pro at $20 per month in early 2024. Microsoft 365 Family, which allows for up to six users and 6 terabytes of cloud storage, goes for $12.99 each month. The new Microsoft 365 Premium tier essentially combines both and will cost $19.99 a month. "Other AI tools stop at chat -- we deliver that plus so much more," Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's consumer marketing leader, wrote in a statement provided to CNBC. Microsoft is not discontinuing Copilot Pro, a spokesperson said. Technology companies have been trying to capitalize on the broad interest in tapping generative AI models to compose documents and create videos.

Microsoft 365 Now Has More Features and a 'Premium' Subscription

Earlier this year, Microsoft raised prices for the Microsoft 365 subscription service that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and other apps. More changes are on the way, including a new Premium tier, but thankfully not another price hike. The base Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans are staying at $100/year and $130/year, respectively, with the same access to apps and included OneDrive cloud storage. Microsoft is announcing a slew of AI and Copilot features, which could be interpreted as justification for the recent price increase (and perhaps another one in the future), or as more bang for your buck. Microsoft said, "our customers told us they wanted the convenience of our best AI and productivity tools in a single subscription." First, Microsoft is boosting the usage limits for various AI features, including 4o image generation, Voice mode, Podcasts and Audio overviews in the Copilot app, Deep research in Copilot, and other functionality. Those features are still not unlimited, but if you're frequently hitting your monthly allotment of AI credits, you might not anymore. There's also a new Microsoft 365 Premium subscription, which costs $20/month. It includes everything from the Personal and Family plans, but with additional Copilot and AI features and even higher usage limits. It's replacing the Copilot Pro subscription, which was originally the only way to access Copilot features, until those were rolled into the base subscription. Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers have access to Researcher and Analyst, which are two AI agents intended to help with research and data analysis. I would personally not trust my important work to large language models that can frequently make up information and makes me dumber for using it, but that's just me. Those agents are available now in the Microsoft 365 Copilot desktop app -- not to be confused with the Copilot app in Windows -- and coming soon to the Word, PowerPoint, and Excel apps. There's also access to Office Agent and Agent Mode, which Microsoft also calls "vibe working." Those features are supposed to create Excel and Word documents based on a prompt you provide, with Excel support coming soon. For example, could say something like, "Create a monthly household budget tracker with categories like Rent, Groceries, Utilities, Entertainment, Transportation, and Savings. Apply conditional formatting and data bars for % Over/Under Budget," and the Agent will get started. The Agent Mode in Excel uses Anthropic's AI models, while the Agent in Word still seems to use OpenAI's models. Microsoft's own tests with SpreadsheetBench revealed that Excel's Agent Mode has an accuracy of 57.2%, compared to an average of 71% accuracy when a human is doing the same tasks, and 20% accuracy from Excel's regular Copilot feature. To summarize, Microsoft has built a calculator application that is wrong 80% or 43% of the time, then believed those numbers were impressive enough to put in a visual graph, while also describing it as "like you're handing off work to an Excel expert." That feels insulting to Excel experts. You can sign up to Microsoft 365 from Microsoft's website, with plans still starting at $100/year or $10/month. Alternatively, if you want the Office apps for a one-time purchase and no AI features, consider checking out Office 2024. Source: Microsoft

Microsoft launches 365 Premium for consumers, retires Copilot Pro

Microsoft 365 Premium combines the best of Microsoft Copilot with Microsoft 365. If you want your household to be on the cutting edge of AI, Microsoft has a deal for you: Microsoft 365 Premium, which combines the Family plan with Copilot Pro. At a new price of $19.99 per month, Microsoft 365 Premium sounds simple enough. Previously offered only to business users, it's now available to consumers as well. There's also a twist: Microsoft said it's canceling the $20 Copilot Pro subscription entirely, which reduces the standalone value of Copilot and M365 considerably. Essentially, Microsoft 365 Premium combines Copilot Pro with Microsoft 365. On the Office side, you'll get access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook, all with Copilot Chat built in and 1TB of storage. On the AI side, subscribers will get access to "extended" AI usage limits for GPT-5 and 40 image generation, plus the Actions, Researcher, and Analyst agents. A Microsoft blog post compared Microsoft 365 Premium against ChatGPT Plus, making it clear where the company is feeling the heat. Microsoft says that the same Microsoft 365 Premium subscription can be used at home or at work, where it benefits from Enterprise Data Protection in Copilot. There's a small catch for existing subscribers. If you upgrade, your subscription won't carry over entirely. Instead, you'll be "credited" with a number of days on the new Premium plan for your existing Microsoft Personal or Family subscription. You can find the details on Microsoft's dedicated page for upgrading an existing 365 subscription. If you choose to stay on the Microsoft Family and Personal tier, the company is adding some bonuses, including 40 image generation in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Copilot; unlimited use of Copilot Voice in the app; and Podcasts, Vision, and Deep Research in Copilot.

Microsoft 365 Premium brings pro-level AI features to your subscription - but only if you upgrade

New icons introduced for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the rest of the Office apps Microsoft 365 Premium launches today with upgraded AI features for $19.99 / £19 / AU$33 a month. It's designed for people who want an enhanced AI experience that goes beyond what's currently available in the Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans, which is basic Copilot integration. Earlier this year, Microsoft added Copilot to the Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans. The new Premium service combines features from the existing Family and Copilot Pro plans, including higher usage limits for select Copilot features and access to premium AI features like Researcher, Analyst, and Actions, which enable you to get more detailed reports. So, if you're a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plan holder who feels like they need a little more AI in their life, then this could be the new plan for you. In a blog post, Yusuf Mehdi, Executive Vice President, Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, wrote, "Productivity is at the heart of our mission to help every person on the planet achieve more. And we believe that embedding AI into the flow of work unlocks new levels of productivity, helping everyone work smarter, faster, and more creatively. That's why we're continuing to deeply integrate Copilot, our powerful AI assistant, into our best-in-class productivity apps". While Microsoft 365 Personal ($9.99 per month) or Family subscribers ($12.99 per month) need to upgrade to join the Premium plan, Copilot Pro subscribers on the other hand, have the option of simply switching to Microsoft 365 Premium at no extra cost. Microsoft 365 Premium also includes access to Microsoft's new Photos Agent, 1 TB of secure cloud storage per person, and Microsoft Defender for advanced security protection. Microsoft has also announced that existing consumer subscribers to the Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans will be getting higher Copilot usage limits and some new Copilot features, including Vision in the Copilot app and audio summarization and creation. Copilot chat arrived in the stand-alone Microsoft Office apps for commercial customers this September, but now it's being rolled out to all individual subscribers and non-commercial customers as well. Copilot features like Researcher and Analyst will also be available to individual app subscribers. So, you can now use Copilot for drafting a document, analyzing data from spreadsheets, or simply helping with your email in all the Office apps you already subscribe to. ChatGPT-4o's native AI image generation is also coming to Copilot in Microsoft apps, so if you need an image for a PowerPoint presentation, you can now ask Copilot to generate it. Advanced voice mode is also available in Microsoft apps now, meaning you can just talk to Copilot instead of typing. Employees of big companies often bring their own AI to work, using tools that aren't secure. With Microsoft 365 Premium, you can actually bring your Copilot to work with enterprise data protection, secure infrastructure, multiple compliance certifications, and protection against harmful content, prompt injections, and more. Finally, to reflect the new Copilot integration, Microsoft is also introducing new, simpler, refreshed app icons across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, and more, which it says "reflect the new era of AI". They're definitely more on-trend, with a cooler glassy look that makes them feel they belong in 2025.

Microsoft launches 365 Premium with Copilot AI assistant - The Economic Times

The company will stop selling Copilot Pro and existing Copilot Pro and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family customers can switch to Premium. Microsoft, which also has a free version of Copilot, had launched its Copilot Pro at $20 per month last year.Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled Microsoft 365 Premium for individuals at $19.99 a month that bundles the company's Copilot artificial intelligence assistant across apps including Outlook, Excel and Word. The launch marks a shift to simplify and integrate the company's AI offerings more deeply into core products for individual users at a time when technology firms are racing to monetize their investments in advanced AI tools. The company said the plan includes its highest Copilot usage limits and exclusive features such as Researcher, Analyst and Actions, combined with one-terabyte of cloud storage and Microsoft Defender advanced security. The company will stop selling Copilot Pro and existing Copilot Pro and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family customers can switch to Premium. Microsoft, which also has a free version of Copilot, had launched its Copilot Pro at $20 per month last year. OpenAI also offers its ChatGPT Plus for $20 per month. Microsoft added that Personal and Family subscribers will get higher Copilot usage limits to select Copilot features at no extra cost.

Microsoft Adds Subscription Tier That Combines AI and Productivity Tools | PYMNTS.com

In addition, Microsoft will no longer sell Copilot Pro and recommends that subscribers to that service switch to Microsoft 365 Premium, per the post. Customers had asked for the convenience of a single subscription that includes AI and productivity tools, Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft, said in the post. "This new subscription was built specifically for any individual looking to tackle the most demanding productivity tasks, from conducting deep research into a new business idea to nailing an important presentation at work," Mehdi said of Microsoft 365 Premium. While the two companies are partners, they are increasingly in competition, with Microsoft pushing its personal Copilot app and OpenAI targeting the business market, according to the report.

Microsoft to integrate Copilot Pro into new Office tier for consumers By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Microsoft announced Wednesday it will fold its artificial intelligence subscription service for consumers into Office, creating a new premium tier of Microsoft 365. The new Microsoft 365 Premium tier will cost $19.99 per month and include an integrated chatbot and AI features such as image generation alongside the standard Office apps like Word, Excel, and Outlook. Customers currently paying for the phone- and web-based Copilot Pro chatbot will eventually be moved to this new tier, according to Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's consumer chief marketing officer. Microsoft began offering AI features to individual Office users in January, but subscribers faced usage caps when trying features like creating or editing images. The new Premium tier addresses these limitations and costs just a penny less than ChatGPT Plus and the soon-to-be-discontinued Copilot Pro. Premium subscribers whose employers don't pay for Copilot will be able to bring AI features to work, allowing them to use Copilot for document editing and email management. "So many people are bringing AI to work, and now we have an offering that I think is the better offering for them," Mehdi said. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.