800 vs. 20 million users: Brutal truth about Microsoft's AI problem in the office with Copilot over Chatgpt from Openaai

The power of habit: the surprisingly simple reason why Chatgpt Microsoft's Copilot depends

The introduction of artificial intelligence into everyday work has taken a remarkable development: Although Microsoft has invested billions in its Copilot platform and it is seamlessly integrated into the Microsoft 365 suite, employees worldwide continues to use chatt. This preference shows itself even when companies have already acquired expensive copilot licenses.

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The sobering figures: a clear competition deficit

The statistics speak a clear language about the current status of the AI ​​assistant market. Chatgpt dominates with impressive 800 million weekly active users and was able to increase its business customers by 50 percent to three million paying corporate customers within a few months. This growth rate underlines the strong position of Openai in the market for enterprise AI solutions.

Microsoft Copilot, on the other hand, shows a completely different picture. With only 20 million weekly users, the platform has been stagnating at the same level for over a year. These numbers are particularly noteworthy when you consider that Microsoft has over 1.5 billion Windows users worldwide-which means that only about one percent of these users regularly use copilot.

The distribution in the corporate landscape

The differences in the company adoption are even more clearly visible. While around 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies Microsoft Copilot at least evaluated, most organizations limit use to small groups of hundreds or a few thousand employees. In contrast, Openai reports a deeper market penetration with three million paying business customers, which often switched to Copilot to Chatgpt after the first experiments.

The pharmaceutical company Amgen, which announced in the spring of 2024, provides a concise example to acquire 20,000 copilot licenses for its employees. Thirteen months later, however, the majority of AMGEN employees use Chatgpt for their daily tasks, while Copilot is mainly used for outlook and team functions.

The roots of the problem: familiarity and habit

The main reason for Chatgpt's popularity lies in its temporal lead and viral distribution. Chatgpt was introduced at the end of 2022 and immediately won the public's attention. The simple web interface, quick answers and surprisingly good results led millions of people to use the tool at home and later also at work.

When Microsoft introduced Copilot for companies, many employees were already familiar with Chatgpt and used it for email designs, document accommodations, brainstorming or even for programming. This early adoption led to a kind of “habitality” - people preferred to stay with the tool that they knew instead of switching to something new, even if it was better integrated into the company systems.

Perceived quality and user -friendliness

Many users report that Chatgpt simply “works”. It delivers quick, clear answers and can manage a wide range of inquiries without complex furnishings. For research, designs and summaries, employees say that the results are often “more natural” and useful than what Copilot offers.

An important factor is also the lower friction when using chatt. It is not restricted by company guidelines like Copilot, which causes data security concerns, but means that employees can use it with fewer hurdles. Access is easy-you simply open a browser tab, without additional software or registration steps.

The role of organic distribution

Since Chatgpt spread organically, a large part of the training and know-how took place. Employees taught each other tips and tricks, said prompts and integrated chatt in their own work processes-often faster than IT departments were able to create official copilot guidelines.

This bottom-up adoption is contrasting to the typical top-down implementations of corporate software. While Microsoft relies on structured introductions and IT-controlled rollouts, Chatgpt gained popularity through spontaneous use and recommendations.

Mixed landscapes: When companies operate both systems in parallel

A growing number of large companies reacts to this situation by introducing both copilot and chattt and letting both AI assistants run in parallel. The New York Life Insurance Company, for example, uses both tools for all 12,000 employees, whereby the final decision on regular operation depends, among other things, on the employee acceptance.

Bain & Company shows a ratio of around 16,000 chatt-job workstations to 2,000 copilot workstations. These figures make it clear that even in organizations that both tools offer, the employee preference tends to chat strongly.

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Microsoft's countermeasures: price strategy and integration

Microsoft tries to counter with aggressive pricing. Copilot costs $ 30 per month and user, while Chatgpt Enterprise can cost up to $ 60 per workplace. This price difference is considerable and should theoretically represent a competitive advantage.

However, Openai already counters with more flexible price models on a usage basis and discounts for customers who buy additional AI products. In addition, Openai has geared his strategy to develop Chatgpt from an independent AI assistant to a comprehensive business platform.

The integration strategy of Openai

Openai has strategically worked on integrating Chatgpt into existing business applications. With direct connections to corporate applications such as Github, Google Docs, Gmail, Microsoft SharePoint, Outlook, OneDrive, Hubspot and Dropbox, Openai has significantly expanded its market reach.

This strategy aims to eliminate the barriers that prevented the previously widespread company implementation, and makes access to Openai technology for business people as smoothly as possible.

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Challenges in Copilot introduction

The introduction of Microsoft Copilot brings several specific challenges that hinder its adoption. One of the biggest hurdles is the costs and the complexity of the licensing. With a price of $ 30 per user and month in addition to existing Microsoft 365 subscriptions, this is a significant investment for many companies.

In addition, there is often a lack of awareness among employees. Many organizations activate licenses without proper introductory or communication plan, which means that the employees remain unprepared and cannot integrate the tool into their routines.

The importance of prompt engineering

Another critical factor is that Copilot requires users to promptly master engineering - the ability to design in such a way that they provide meaningful and accurate results. Without this fundamental knowledge, employees can feel frustrated or Copilot perceive as unreliable, which reduces their motivation for use.

Microsoft reacted to this by launching the Copilot Academy to equip users with better promptly engineering skills. This reaction shows that the company has recognized the challenges of user -friendliness.

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Security and compliance challenges

The integration of AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot into corporate workflows brings unique and complex safety challenges. According to a Gartner survey of 2024, 57 percent of the organizations opted for limited risk to low-risk or trustworthy users to reduce initial security risks.

In addition, 40 percent of the organizations experienced significant delays in the rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot due to concerns about security and overs sharing. These challenges underline the importance of careful evaluation of possible weaknesses in the integration of AI tools.

The role of corporate culture

The adoption of AI assistants is also strongly influenced by the corporate culture. While Chatgpt has built up a strong followers due to its organic distribution and user -friendliness, Copilot struggles with the perception of being a further imposed company.

The fact that 68 percent of employees want their employers to use more AI technology and already use 56 percent of employees daily AI shows that the willingness to adoption is available. The challenge is to steer this willingness in the right direction.

Industry -specific adoption

The adoption of AI assistants varies significantly between different industries. In the technology industry, 50 percent of employees often use AI at work, followed by professional services with 34 percent and finance with 32 percent.

These differences reflect that some industries are more open to technological innovation, while others need more time for evaluation and implementation. Regulated sectors such as healthcare and finance are faced with additional compliance challenges that can slow down adoption.

Success stories and potential

Despite the challenges, Microsoft can have success. Large customers such as barclays, accenture and Volkswagen each have over 100,000 paying copilot users. These examples show that with correct implementation and support Copilot can be quite successful.

Studies also show that 77 percent of early copilot adopters report in corporate organizations that Copilot has made them more productive. In corporate environments, 78 percent of the organizations experienced positive productivity changes with copilot, with users claiming a 10-15 percent increase in productivity and a 19 percent reduction in burnout.

The future of AI assistants in the workplace

The development shows that the future of AI assistants in the workplace is not necessarily dominated by a single tool. Instead, an ecosystem of different AI tools seems to develop that is optimized for different applications.

CEO Satya Nadella has made it clear that Microsoft has to win over “hundreds of millions of people” for his AI apps. This statement underlines the urgency with which Microsoft tries to improve copilot market position.

Strategic implications for companies

For companies, there are several strategic considerations from this development. First, you should monitor the actual use of your AI tools instead of only relying on license sales. Second, it is important to understand and take into account the employee preferences, since the best technology is useless if it is not accepted.

Third, companies should develop a balanced strategy between top-down governance and bottom-up innovation. While structured rollouts are important for security and compliance, organic adoption can provide valuable insights into practical use by employees.

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A race for user acceptance

The development in the AI ​​assistant market shows that technical superiority or integration alone is not sufficient to gain the user acceptance. Chatgpt's success is based on a combination of early market launch, organic distribution, usability and the ability to quickly adapt to user needs.

Despite its technical skills and deep integration, Microsoft Copilot fights into the Microsoft product suite with fundamental challenges for user acceptance. Stagnation in 20 million weekly users compared to Chatgpt's explosive growth to 800 million shows that the market for AI assistants is still far from consolidation.

The future will show whether Microsoft can create the turn through price adjustments, improved user -friendliness and better training programs, or whether Chatgpt will further expand its dominant position. For companies, this means that they should remain flexible and to follow the development of both platforms in detail in order to make the best possible decisions for their digital transformation.

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