Perplexity Pro might be free if Copilot follows suit, but Microsoft begs to differ
Microsoft says that it's "expensive to run these huge models."
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Key notes
- Perplexity Pro may soon be free if Microsoft Copilot follows suit, CEO says.
- This Pro version costs $20/month, with an option to get answers from various AI models.
- Microsoft, unfortunately, said that it’s not possible due to the costs.
Perplexity Pro, an advanced edition of the well-known AI chatbot offering model options such as OpenAI’s GPT-4, Claude 3, or Perplexity, could be on the verge of becoming freely accessible. You will no longer be required to pay the $20 monthly fee, but this hinges on Microsoft Copilot also offering its service for free.
CEO Aravind Srinivas has said so on X (fka Twitter), challenging that he’d make Perplexity Pro a free service, should Microsoft Copilot (presumably the Pro version) follow suit.
Sure, we do have a “free” version of Copilot, but in Windows 11, it only serves as a side-panel chatbot and isn’t included in popular Microsoft 365 apps like Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc. And then, as subscribers’ money is cut, Perplexity Pro will then rely on highly personalized advertising, something that not everyone is content about.
Microsoft’s Mikhail Parakhin, in charge of Bing and Copilot, explained that while the regular version of Copilot is free, the Pro version is not due to the substantial expenses associated with running these extensive models.
Perplexity Pro has been a hot topic in the AI race for quite some time. Billed as the ChatGPT competitor, it proclaims as “the Future of Search.” With the same price as ChatGPT Plus ($20/month), you get answers from these various models plus unlimited pro search and file uploads for complex questions and more.
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