Керівник OpenAI Сем Альтман і гендиректор Microsoft Сатья Наделла /AFP
Microsoft plans to add third-party AI models to products with Microsoft 365 Copilot—not just to diversify the lineup, but also to reduce dependence on ChatGPT and OpenAI, reports Reuters citing sources within the company.
Microsoft Corporation has been a long-time sponsor and supporter of OpenAI, which, rumor has it, poured a whopping $10 billion into the startup, while also ensuring the presence of ChatGPT in its own products. However, the company is now seriously concerned about the rising costs of the technology for corporate users and is actively seeking alternatives.
The report does not specify which options Microsoft is considering, but given the AI boom, there are plenty now. Other divisions of the corporation have already begun to diversify their offerings: GitHub, which Microsoft acquired in 2018, added models from Anthropic and Google as an alternative to OpenAI’s GPT-4 back in October; and the company’s own development, the Copilot chatbot, also uses models developed by Microsoft (reminder, earlier in December Microsoft introduced an updated AI model called Phi-4—it has 14 billion parameters and is supposedly better at solving mathematical problems than its predecessors).
Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI assistant embedded in the company’s suite of corporate software, including Word and PowerPoint. It was introduced shortly after the launch of ChatGPT, however, it has yet to prove its profitability (at least, Microsoft doesn’t publish data in reports, although it noted that the product is used by nearly 70% of companies from the Fortune 500 list).
In August, a Gartner survey showed that 152 companies that planned projects with Copilot did not develop them beyond the pilot stage. However, analysts at BNP Paribas Exane predicted that this year Microsoft would sell 365 Copilot to more than 10 million paying users.