Mon Jan 20 04:20:00 UTC 2025: **Microsoft Launches Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, Introducing AI-Powered Agents with Usage-Based Pricing**

REDMOND, WA [Date of Release] – Microsoft today announced the general availability of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, expanding access to its AI-powered Copilot technology across the entire workforce. This new feature empowers employees in various roles, from customer service to marketing, to utilize Copilot and AI-driven agents for improved productivity.

Copilot Chat integrates seamlessly with agents built using Copilot Studio, offering organizations a powerful way to automate business processes. These agents, available directly within Copilot Chat soon, operate on a pay-as-you-go model, charging users based on message consumption. Pricing is $0.01 per message, or users can opt for a discounted pre-paid package of 25,000 messages for $200 per month. Billing is managed through the Microsoft Power Platform admin center, allowing administrators to control costs and allocate message capacity.

Agent pricing varies depending on complexity and features utilized, which are categorized into five groups. While basic usage of classic and generative answers is included with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses, additional features, such as “Tenant Graph grounding” (accessing relevant organizational data for enhanced responses), will incur extra charges. Tenant Graph grounding costs 30 messages per knowledge retrieval and will be billed starting February 1, 2025, for existing and new agents.

Microsoft also announced a paid preview program for autonomous agents, starting February 1, 2025. These agents automate complex processes and are priced at 25 messages per autonomous action. Comprehensive management tools in the Power Platform admin center allow organizations to monitor agent usage and control costs. The company emphasized its commitment to providing robust governance tools to manage AI-related expenses. Further details on pricing and agent management are available on the Microsoft website.

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