Microsoft Unveils Agent 365 and Next-Gen Agentic AI for Microsoft 365 Copilot

Today, Judson Althoff, CEO of Microsoft Commercial Business, announced the next wave of enterprise AI advancements for Microsoft 365 Copilot – supporting frontier transformation. Key news elements include:

Microsoft 365 Copilot is moving beyond assistance to embedded agentic capabilities that complete actions or get work done for you. Introducing Copilot Cowork, built in close collaboration with Anthropic, Microsoft is bringing the technology that powers Claude Cowork into Microsoft 365 Copilot to enable long-running, multi-step tasks.

This month, Microsoft is rolling out the next generation of agentic experiences for Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook and Copilot Chat. (previously called agent mode).

Microsoft 365 Copilot is model-diverse by design. Starting today, Claude is now available in mainline Copilot Chat via the Frontier program, alongside the latest generation of OpenAI models.

Anthropic. Photo by AP

Agent 365, the control plane for AI agents, will become generally available on May 1 for $15 per user. Agent 365 gives IT and security leaders a single place to observe, govern, manage, and secure agents across the organization – using the same infrastructure, applications, and protections they rely on to manage people today.

Microsoft is bringing intelligence + trust together with the new Microsoft 365 E7 Frontier Suite – generally available on May 1 for $99 per user. Microsoft 365 E7 unifies Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Agent 365 into a single solution powered by Work IQ and integrated with the apps and security stack customers already rely on. It includes Microsoft Entra Suite and advanced Defender, Intune, and Purview security capabilities, delivering comprehensive protection across agents and employees.

Looking ahead, the Microsoft Hong Kong AI Tour will take place on April 22, where Judson will be in Hong Kong to share how organizations can transform and lead in the AI era. Stay tuned for more updates.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft said Monday it will no longer pay a share of its revenue to ChatGPT maker OpenAI, the latest move to untether a close partnership that helped unleash an artificial intelligence boom.

OpenAI relied exclusively on Microsoft's investments in cloud computing services to build the technology that helped make ChatGPT a household name. Microsoft, in turn, relied on OpenAI's technology to build its own AI assistant Copilot.

But the partnership has evolved as San Francisco-based OpenAI, founded as a nonprofit, has shifted to a capitalistic enterprise on a path toward an initial public offering on Wall Street and has balanced its reliance on Microsoft with other cloud partners like Amazon, Google and Oracle.

OpenAI said Monday it will continue to pay Microsoft a share of its revenue through 2030.

The two companies said Microsoft remains the primary cloud computing partner for OpenAI, and products made by the AI company will ship first on Microsoft's cloud platform, called Azure, “unless Microsoft cannot and chooses not to support the necessary capabilities.”

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy described it as a “very interesting announcement” in a social media post Monday and said that Amazon will soon be making OpenAI’s models “available directly" on Amazon's AI platform called Bedrock.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors Monday that the new agreement “puts OpenAI on a strong path forward to going public through IPO given its clearer opportunity in the cloud environment while reducing significant barriers from its original partnership with Microsoft.”

Ives said it's also important for Microsoft as it “looks to develop tech independence from OpenAI” in advancing Copilot's capabilities and partnering with other AI providers such as OpenAI rival Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude.

FILE - A ChapGPT logo is seen in West Chester, Pa., Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)