This week, Microsoft have announced that the Custom GPT builder which is included in Copilot Pro subscriptions (aimed at consumer and families) will be removed, in “favour” of enhancing the “in app” Copilot experiences.
We are continuing to evaluate our strategy for consumer Copilot extensibility and are prioritising core product experiences, while remaining committed to developer opportunities….We are now shifting our focus on GPTs to Commercial and Enterprise scenarios and are stopping GPT efforts in consumer Copilot.
Microsoft Copilot Team
I’m quite upset by this news, as I have found this to be great learning experience for me and have had fun creating custom GPTs for several topics and interests I have both around and outside of tech industry. For example, my children use a Custom GPT I built to research all about trains and tubes and I’m gutted these custom GPTs will soon be removed 🙁
Secondly, at £20 per user per month, which is a lot on top of a £79 a year Microsoft 365 Family Subscription, the main value of Copilot Pro is now the image creation boosts in Designer and Bing and the faster/access to GPT4-Turbo models. The in app experiences whilst great are no on par to Copilot for Microsoft 365 since there is currently no ability to reference files in Word or PowerPoint which is a huge thing!
I will stick with it for a bit, but keen to see if Copilot Pro continues and if it does, what new features will be announced to retain consumer interest.
What is Copilot Pro again?
Copilot Pro was announced in January 2024, which, along with enhanced and priority access to image creation tools and GPT-4 Turbo, brings the core features of Microsoft 365 Copilot to individuals and families using Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriptions.
What is happening then?
Microsoft are retiring the GPT Builder from Copilot Pro from 10th July 10 2024, after which time, users will no longer have access to any of their custom GPTs or the associated data, as Microsoft will delete them during a specified period.
The decision to retire the GPT Builder feature is part of Microsoft’s strategy to focus on core product experiences and developer opportunities, particularly in commercial and enterprise… I read this as simply update and use of GPT Builder in Copilot Pro is low!
Excited yet pessimistic
As I said in the intro, I’m Anticipated about the upcoming improvements to the In-App Enhancements as I feel Copilot Pro was kind of rushed with regards the Office App experiences.
I remain excited, no, hopeful, about the potential improvements to Copilot Pro and would like to see:
- Ability to reference local or cloud-based files, akin to the functionality available in Copilot for Microsoft 365. This would significantly streamline workflows and enhance productivity, allowing users like me to seamlessly integrate Copilot Pro into our daily tasks.
- Inclusion in more native apps, including OneNote (why is it not there) and Whiteboard.
- Generals improvements to PowerPoint to leverage Microsoft Designer (not PowerPoint designer) for images rather than the stock apps or at least as an option.
- Ability to read and process more data (give it more tokens) to ensure it can rival the likes of Google (and Now Apple).
I do hope Microsoft doesn’t yet again give up on consumer as they have done so many times with other apps and services and instead refine Copilot based on user feedback, I remain hopeful that the upcoming enhancements will enrich the user experience, making Copilot Pro an even more indispensable tool for consumers, artists, and families worldwide. Microsoft need to keep people in their native apps.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while the retirement of the GPT Builder marks the end of an era, it also signals the beginning of a more focused and user-centric approach to Copilot Pro’s development. I do look forward to the next chapter in Copilot Pro’s evolution and the innovative features it will bring.