Microsoft just fired a direct shot at OpenAI with its new Microsoft 365 Premium subscription, priced at exactly $19.99 per month to match ChatGPT Plus. The move bundles Office apps with advanced AI features and introduces a game-changing workplace capability that lets consumers bring their own AI tools to work - potentially disrupting enterprise software sales across the industry.
Microsoft is making its biggest play yet against OpenAI's consumer dominance with the launch of Microsoft 365 Premium, a $19.99 monthly subscription that directly targets ChatGPT Plus subscribers. The timing isn't coincidental - it's a calculated strike at the heart of OpenAI's productivity narrative.
"It's really going to be our most powerful AI and productivity subscription for any individual," Gareth Oystryk, senior director of marketing for Copilot Pro and Microsoft 365, told The Verge. The subscription merges the company's previously separate Copilot Pro and Microsoft 365 offerings into a single package that includes Office desktop apps for six people, 1TB of cloud storage per person, and Microsoft's highest AI usage limits.
The move represents a significant strategic shift for Microsoft, which has been experimenting with AI pricing models since launching Copilot Pro last year for an additional $20 monthly fee on top of existing Microsoft 365 subscriptions. That approach "seemed like a tall ask," according to The Verge's reporting, leading to the current consolidation strategy.
But the real disruption lies in a feature that could reshape enterprise software purchasing. Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers can now enable AI features in their workplace Office applications by simply signing into work apps with their personal Microsoft accounts. This capability essentially bypasses the need for companies to purchase expensive Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses for individual employees.
"We have seen a lot of employees, all over the place, bringing their own AI to work," Oystryk explained to The Verge. The feature works across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook on Windows PCs, Mac, and iPad, though not on web versions.
The competitive implications are immediate. OpenAI markets ChatGPT Plus as a productivity subscription with access to GPT-5 and higher usage limits, but it lacks the integrated Office experience that Microsoft offers. "Productivity is our DNA, we're Office," Sumit Chauhan, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Office Product Group, told . "While others will try to replicate us, there is no substitute for the real thing."
