Microsoft Is Charging Some Office 365 Customers 40% Extra to Test AI Features

Microsoft and other software companies that recently launched artificial intelligence features now face the hard part: getting customers to pay for the features, which are costly to operate.

More than 600 of Microsoft’s largest customers, including Bank of America, Walmart, Ford and Accenture, are expected to test the AI features in its Microsoft Office 365 productivity apps, and at least 100 customers are already paying a flat fee of $100,000 for up to 1,000 users for one year, according to a person with direct knowledge of the pilot program. That means the customers with 1,000-seat subscriptions are paying at least 40% more versus the classic version for productivity software that automates tasks such as writing text in Word documents and creating PowerPoint slides.