Microsoft and Google ram AI down your throat (and make you pay for it)

The use of Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini is no longer optional, but mandatory. So-called to make AI more accessible, but in practice an excuse to boost usage rates and revenue.

Not using Copilot or Gemini yet? Then Microsoft and Google are making sure you can’t ignore their AI assistants from now on. The tech giants recently announced that AI features are now “included” in their 365 and Workspace subscriptions. In exchange for more AI, the subscription price goes up. That users have not asked for this at all is just an afterthought.

From opt-in to opt-out

Until recently, anyone who wanted to use Copilot or Gemini had to take an additional add-on on top of the subscription. To be clear, we are talking about the professional versions of the models with more capacity, functionality and security. The extra cost was certainly on the high side at more than twenty euros per month, but at the very least it was the user’s choice whether or not to subscribe to it.

The adoption of Copilot and Gemini was too slow this way, Microsoft and Google thought. We already saw the AI assistants integrated into office applications in many ways. Microsoft 365 even underwent a transformation to emphasize Copilot’s presence. That proved insufficient, and so Google and Microsoft are taking the aggressive approach. As icing on the AI cake, they are making it as difficult as possible for users to take out another “dumb” subscription.

We may be explicitly pointing the finger at Microsoft and Google now, but Apple may as well put on the penal carpet. As of now, Apple Intelligence (available in the EU after a long battle) is “on” by default in iOS and macOS. Yes, you can turn it off and you don’t have to pay a subscription for it, but the principle remains the same. Apple has not asked users if they want it, and you have to look for the on/off button yourself in the settings.

High costs, impatient investors, dissatisfied users

Don’t think that Microsoft and Google are adding AI to your subscription to make your life better. They just want to save their own skin. The training and inference of the models cost millions and right now Google and Microsoft are making a loss on that. At the end of the road, the user will have to foot the bill.

The tech giants must also think of their investors. These have been spawned for two years with fine promises about AI, but the slightest bit of doubt is enough to burst the bubble. Adding Gemini and Copilot to all subscriptions artificially boosts usage rates in one fell swoop and ensures a more stable source of revenue. That is exactly what investors want to hear.

Users are less pleased. In Australia, which was the first market to be tapped, the mandatory Copilot addition was already causing much frustration. Copilot asks with every action if it can be of service. Nasty memories of the Clippy era come flooding back. Also, those with smartphones running Gemini will notice that it acts much more assertively than the former Assistant. Artificial intelligence thus feels more like artificial intrusiveness.

Rushing AI down users’ throats will only make them satiated faster.

What rules?

Microsoft is also taking a run at EU rules around fair competition. Remember when Microsoft had to remove Teams from Office in 2023 because that link meant unfair competition to other communication platforms? Microsoft may want us to believe that Office and Copilot are one and the same, but it knows just as well that’s a fallacy. It is pushing Copilot on users to give it an artificial edge over alternative AI applications, whether or not they are better.

What Microsoft is doing in Windows, Google and Apple are doing equally well with their mobile platforms. Android may enjoy the reputation of being an “open ecosystem,” but every Android phone invariably comes with a Google bundle. Surely that has given the search engine and Chrome browser a significant advantage because it reduces the need for an alternative. Google is now playing under a hat with smartphone manufacturers to tout Gemini following the same logic. Why install the ChatGPT app anymore when you already have Gemini?

Think about how Apple for years plugged its iOS ecosystem to third-party vendors. Apple deliberately made it difficult for users to find alternatives to its own applications. Under pressure from the DMA, Apple (reluctantly) opened the doors, but it initially did not want to bring Intelligence to Europe because it was not allowed to do so under its own rules.

Tech companies know that time is their friend. Bureaucracy always lags behind technological developments. By the time legislation goes into effect, a violation is determined and a penalty can be imposed, competition is long gone. Risking possible fines and correcting afterwards pays off more than waiting for the rules of the game to be determined.

The customer is no longer king

So don’t be under the illusion that your opinion counts as a customer. In the IT world, the tech giants are king. How Microsoft is pushing the new Outlook proves once again that it does what it wants. Users just have to swallow it or look for creative loopholes to escape Microsoft’s will.

In conclusion, this is not an argument against AI. The AI features that Copilot, Gemini, ChatGPT and co bring with them can indeed add value to our daily lives. But let users choose for themselves if and how they want to use them.