Microsoft Integrates Word, Excel into AI-Powered Assistant Copilot
Microsoft is integrating its Word and Excel software into its AI-powered assistant Copilot. This integration will allow users to create, edit, and share files without switching between applications. The move aims to make AI the entry point for Microsoft's famous suite of productivity software.
Copilot currently relies on models from OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and Anthropic, which also launched its own document creation tool called Claude recently. Microsoft has unveiled in-house models, but they only power a few products, such as GitHub's Copilot coding tool.
The integration of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into Copilot will be available to individual Microsoft 365 subscribers and businesses enrolled in the testing program within weeks. The basic AI features, including data analysis and document drafting, will cost US$30 per user per month.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella compared the arrival of these AI tools in the workplace to the advent of the personal computer. He noted that one of the key challenges is allowing a company to move from one AI model to another without losing its data or know-how in the process.