Max Cherney/REUTERS
Microsoft is preparing a version of its Copilot AI tool for the Pentagon.
“For DoD environments, Microsoft 365 Copilot is expected to become available no earlier than summer 2025,” the company stated in a recent blog written for government customers. “Work is ongoing to ensure the offering meets the necessary security and compliance standards.”
Copilot is Microsoft’s main generative AI offering. The company has developed several Copilot tools, which tap into AI models to automate various tasks and support human employees. The Copilot for Microsoft’s 365 service works across productivity software such as PowerPoint slides, Excel spreadsheets, and Word documents.
Microsoft has invested heavily to build these new offerings, but it’s still trying to figure out the best way to make money from them. If the Pentagon signs up for a Copilot service, that would be a major win for the tech giant.
In a recent meeting, Microsoft Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff told employees that a customer with more than 1 million Microsoft 365 licenses will be adding Copilot, according to people who attended.
Althoff did not disclose the customer and Microsoft declined to comment, but there are likely only a few customers with workforces big enough to justify adding more than 1 million Copilot seats.
The Defense Department is one such customer. It is one of the largest employers in the US, with a military workforce of about 2.1 million service members and about 770,000 civilian employees, according to a 2023 report by the Government Accountability Office. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft has publicly stated plans to add Copilot to versions of its Microsoft 365 suite of applications for high-security government customers this year.
Microsoft’s website currently states that Microsoft 365 Copilot is not available via “GCC-High,” its high security cloud platform for US government personnel. However, in a March 31 update, the company said it plans to add Copilot to these environments as soon as this summer.
“For organizations in GCC High, Microsoft 365 Copilot remains in development to meet security and compliance requirements,” the company explained. “We are planning on a general availability (GA) release this calendar year.”
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