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has made greater inroads with sales of its Copilot artificial intelligence add-on for business clients after facing criticism for relatively low adoption in recent months, executive Judson Althoff told employees on Thursday.
Software stocks including Microsoft have come down this year on fears that generative AI models could heighten competition. Microsoft, whose stock sunk 23% in the first quarter, has ramped up spending on data centers for cloud customers such as OpenAI, and investors are seeking signs that products enhanced with AI models will boost revenue and profitability.
In January, Microsoft said it had racked up 15 million seats for the Microsoft 365 Copilot that sits atop commercial productivity software subscriptions, representing 3% of seats for the standard bundles. Microsoft 365 corporate users have access to a Copilot Chat assistant with limited features. CEO Satya Nadella told analysts on an earnings call that the company had “multiples more enterprise chat users.”
The $30-per-month Microsoft 365 Copilot became widely available in 2023, and since then, many analysts have described adoption as nascent. After the January disclosure, analysts at UBS, who recommend buying Microsoft shares, said they had expected more subscribers.
