At the start of the New Year, with no warning, Microsoft gives its flagship productivity app a name change and a huge price increase. Why would the company make this mess? I asked Copilot, who explained it very well.

Love Microsoft Copilot? Hate Microsoft Copilot? It doesn’t really matter: Chances are that if you’ve signed up for Microsoft 365, you’re now paying more for Microsoft’s integration of Copilot features,

Copilot is now included in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family Users can now access Copilot across Word, Excel, Outlook and more But subscription costs will rise to pay for the new features Microsoft has revealed its Copilot AI offerings will now be available to more users across the world - but the launch will come at a slightly increased price.

A standard subscription to Microsoft 365 includes Copilot for an additional $3 per month. Here’s how to get a cheaper Classic plan without the AI features.

Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscription renewals automatically include Copilot with a small price increase. To avoid the raised price, you must manually downgrade to Microsoft 365 Family or Personal Classic before the renewal takes place.