Microsoft has announced a 30% price hike for its Microsoft 365 software suite, increasing the monthly fee from $10 to $13, citing the integration of artificial intelligence as the reason. The response from the 84 million paying subscribers has been overwhelmingly negative. The author argues that no one wants to pay for AI, and the results of Microsoft's AI-powered Copilot feature are underwhelming. The announcement of the price hike was also bungled, with some subscribers receiving incorrect information, and many being forced to install the Copilot app without their consent. The feature is on by default, and users have to actively disable it, although the option to do so is not yet available for all Office apps. The author believes the price hike is a naked grab for cash, and calculates that Microsoft will make an additional $3.024 billion per year from the increase. The Copilot feature itself is seen as unimpressive, with the author likening its output to that of an enthusiastic summer intern. The whole situation has been handled poorly by Microsoft, leading to widespread anger and frustration among subscribers. The company's decision to force the Copilot app on users and make it difficult to disable has added to the backlash. Overall, the price hike and the introduction of Copilot have been met with strong resistance from Microsoft 365 subscribers.

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