Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) adjusts its AI strategy in response to profitability concerns, focusing on driving Copilot subscription conversions.

Against the backdrop of increasing commercial pressure on artificial intelligence, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) is adjusting its AI product sales strategy, shifting from previous emphasis on free promotion to focusing on driving paid conversions in response to Wall Street's attention to its profitability. According to sources familiar with the matter, Microsoft Corporation management stated in an internal meeting that the company had set and essentially completed "quite aggressive" sales goals for Copilot in the quarter ending March of this year. Judson Althoff, head of Microsoft Corporation's commercial business, stated that the company is now refocusing on driving enterprise customers to pay for Copilot, rather than treating it as an additional free feature of office software. Previously, in January of this year, Microsoft Corporation disclosed that only about 3% of its overall customers were paid users of its core AI office assistant Copilot, a figure lower than market expectations and causing concern among some investors. As a result, Microsoft Corporation's stock price has fallen by approximately 24% since the beginning of the year, significantly underperforming the market. However, after news of the related strategic adjustment emerged, the company's stock price saw a slight rebound. Analysts point out that Microsoft Corporation previously pursued a "free popularization first, then commercialization for monetization" approach, hoping to leverage its large base of office software users to promote AI tools. As of early this year, the company had approximately 450 million office software users. However, under pressure from investors demanding faster revenue growth, the company has begun to accelerate the transition to a paid model. Currently, Copilot is priced at around $30 per user per month, while Microsoft Corporation's recently launched new bundled office software package is priced at around $99 per user per month, aiming to increase the usage and monetization capabilities of AI tools. Althoff stated in the internal meeting that the company has set higher Copilot paid subscription goals for the current quarter and expects them to be significantly higher than previous levels. He also pointed out that the AI market is highly competitive, with the company facing direct competition from rivals at every customer level. In terms of the competitive landscape, Microsoft Corporation is engaged in fierce competition with AI companies including OpenAI. The company emphasizes its advantage in being able to integrate multiple leading AI models in a secure environment to provide more comprehensive solutions to enterprise customers.