At the end of last year Microsoft made a risky move: integrate Copilot within Microsoft 365 and raise the price of the subscription without the option to deactivate it. What we saw at the time as a desperate attempt to attract more users for Copilot has ended up in court. Australia has sued them for allegedly deceiving 2.7 million users.
what has happened. They count in Reuters that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has sued Microsoft. It maintains that the company misled its users into believing that they had to accept the price increase for Microsoft 365 with Copilot. Microsoft presented the change as something mandatory: either you accept the price increase or you unsubscribe. However, there was a third option that only appeared when you tried to unsubscribe and allowed you to maintain the original plan without Copilot.
Imposition. It happened in 2024 in Australia and other Southeast Asian countries. Microsoft 365 subscribers suddenly found that Microsoft had integrated Copilot. Everything was fine except that it wasn’t free. The personal plan had an increase of 45%, while the family plan increased 29%. The problem is that Microsoft did not inform that it was possible to stay with the classic plan (without Copilot). This option only appeared if you tried to unsubscribe, so many users accepted it without knowing that this option existed.
Consequences. The Australian commission says that Microsoft violated the consumer protection law and demands “penalties, consumer compensation, injunctions and costs.” The maximum fine you could face is 50 million Australian dollars, which would be triple the profit obtained. If profits cannot be determined, it would be 30% of the turnover during the infringement period.
Dark patterns. They are manipulation techniques that websites and apps use so that users end up making decisions that benefit the company behind them. a couple of years ago In Spain, a marketing company was fined for using dark patterns to give up more personal data. We also find it in websites like Ryanair or Booking that bombard us to take out insurance or book that hotel because availability is running out.
AI doesn’t pay for itself. Microsoft’s move highlights the problem of the AI industry: the investment is hugebut the return is very small. Subscriptions are a way to make your investment profitable and now are the norm in AI tools, some even cost 200 dollars or more. Microsoft is having a difficult time standing out in an increasingly competitive environment, but its attempt to gain users for Copilot without being transparent has ended up backfiring.
Images | Microsoft, Wikipedia
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