Microsoft reportedly 'struggling' to convince companies to buy Copilot — yup, employees prefer ChatGPT

Tom's Guide

4 days ago

It'd be fair to say ChatGPT has become deeply ingrained in our lexicon, and it's almost a shorthand for wider AI models now in the same way that consumers call any tablet an iPad.
OpenAI's offering was one of the first LLMs to reach mass market penetration thanks to its open source nature, and while the likes of Google Gemini are catching up, it appears the popularity of ChatGPT is having a negative impact on Microsoft's own Copilot.
A new report from Bloomberg has suggested that businesses that have stumped up the cash for Copilot's enterprise features are still finding employees using ChatGPT instead.
According to the report, pharmaceutical company Amgen has paid for a 20,000 user plan for Microsoft Copilot, but more than a year later its employees still prefer to work using ChatGPT.
There's plenty of crossover, too. OpenAI's models form part of Copilot's own LLM, and despite the similarities and overlapping features like data analysis and email drafts, ChatGPT remains much more popular.
TechRadar reports that as of this month, ChatGPT has almost 800 million weekly active users (3 million paying ones) while Copilot has 20 million weekly users for the last year.
"The company's [Microsoft's] salespeople knew ChatGPT dominated the consumer chatbot market, but expected Microsoft to own the enterprise space for AI assistants thanks to decades-long relationships with corporate IT departments," the report explains.
Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
"But by the time Microsoft began selling Copilot to businesses, many office workers had already tried out ChatGPT at home, giving the chatbot a first-mover advantage.'
That's despite the prevalence of Windows across the globe, and while Microsoft has sold millions of dollars worth of Copilot accounts, OpenAI still has the edge it seems.
Despite rapid advancements across the board, ChatGPT continues to dominate the AI market. The likes of Claude and Gemini offer increasingly competitive chatbot experiences, and Meta, Copilot, and a variety of other brands are offering AI technology to match.
ChatGPT has held a dominant position, likely due to its history as the first major chatbot and the one that has become synonymous with the technology. However, its competitors are gaining in popularity.
Whether it is a branding problem or simply the challenge of pulling people away from their number 1 chatbot, Copilot seems to be in a similar boat to many other major AI providers right now.