Office apps get free AI capabilities

Microsoft has announced that more artificial intelligence capabilities will be added for free to various office software, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook.

According to The Verge, a set of free artificial intelligence capabilities are set to be added to Office programs starting in early 2026. These features do not require Copilot’s $30 monthly fee. This action takes place while Microsoft has added several artificial intelligence capabilities to the paid service Microsoft 365 Copilot in the past year.

Microsoft’s office software got some free artificial intelligence features

Microsoft first added the free version of Copilot Chat to Microsoft 365 apps in September, and now it wants to improve the functionality of this chatbot in Outlook. Copilot Chat will soon be able to view the entire contents of your Outlook inbox, including calendar entries and meetings. This feature allows you to manage your inbox with the help of Copilot.

Also, the “Agent Mode” feature, which was initially released in September to paid Microsoft 365 Copilot subscribers, will soon be available to all Microsoft 365 subscribers in Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Agent Mode in Excel and Word can generate spreadsheets and complex documents with just one prompt. Also, in Excel, you can choose between Entropic and OpenAI reasoning models.

Agent Mode in PowerPoint can be used to update presentation files with a company’s business format or perform tasks such as creating a new slide, rewriting and formatting text, and adding images. Microsoft has announced that it plans to preview these free AI capabilities to Microsoft 365 subscribers by March 2026.

Microsoft will also launch Microsoft 365 Copilot Business starting next month. This service is designed for small and medium businesses and its price is $21 per month, which will be available for companies with less than 300 users.