Jan 16 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) said on Thursday

that it is now including Copilot AI features to its Microsoft ( MSFT )

365 suite for individual consumers, a day after it rolled out

on-demand AI agents for businesses.

The Windows-maker will give its customers an option to

either choose a Microsoft ( MSFT ) 365 subscription plan with Copilot AI

features or one without it.

It will also increase the prices of subscription plans in

the U.S. by $3.

Copilot will assist users in a host of apps in the Microsoft ( MSFT )

365 suite - Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote and

Designer. However, the usage of Copilot AI will be capped by

monthly credits, which it believes would suffice for most users.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) will also give users the options to enable or

disable Copilot where AI assistance is not desired - such as in

academic scenarios like exams and submissions. It also said the

user-inputed prompts will not be used to train its models.

The company has been under pressure to show that its big bet

on AI, which includes investment in OpenAI and its plans to

spend about $80 billion during its current fiscal year on data

centers and AI infrastructure, will pay off.

These moves also come at a time when observers have become

skeptical about Copilot's usage. Last year, a Gartner report

raised doubts about its adoption, which led Microsoft ( MSFT ) to push

its uptake.