IT Home reported on February 4 that Microsoft previously launched an optional subscription service, Copilot Pro, for its built-in AI tool Copilot, which costs $20 per month. Copilot Pro focuses on "GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo during peak hours" and promises to provide users with a faster content creation and AI image generation experience.
In addition to priority access to GPT-4, Copilot Pro offers two additional features:
Designer enhancements: Users can use the Boost feature 100 times a day to prioritize image generation requests for faster results.
Microsoft 365 integration: Subscribers can use Copilot to assist with authoring, editing, and communicating in apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote.
Currently, Microsoft is testing ads for Copilot Pro in Windows 11 Dev and Beta. These ads, which are currently hidden on the home and account pages of the Settings app, require activation using a third-party tool, and are expected to be visible to all Windows 11 users in the Settings app in the future.
IT Home noticed that the first Copilot Pro ad appeared on the homepage of the Settings app, and a new column called "Microsoft Copilot Pro" included an introduction to the subscription service and a "Get Copilot Pro" button. The second ad, on the "Account" page, is titled "Boost your creativity and productivity" with a preview image and the rest of the content is the same as the Page ad.
It is expected that all Windows 11 users will soon see these ads in the Settings app. The Copilot Pro ad seems to be a sign that future versions of Windows may include more of these ads when Microsoft also advertises Microsoft 365 services when it launched the new Settings app homepage.