Google has unveiled plans to introduce a monthly fee of $30 per user for large businesses utilizing its AI enhancements, such as Duet AI, which is being integrated into Gmail and other productivity apps. The move comes as a response to the growing trend of infusing generative AI into core products, driven in part by OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot release last year.
This new technology, Duet AI, will be on par with Microsoft’s 365 Copilot enhancements in terms of pricing. Microsoft is set to roll out its offering in the first half of the upcoming year, marking a direct competition between the two tech giants.
The $30 per user fee is an additional expense on top of existing subscription costs for these productivity suites. To facilitate adoption, Google is allowing businesses to participate in free trials before committing to the subscription. Pricing details for smaller organizations and individual users are yet to be finalized.
Aparna Pappu, Vice President and General Manager of Google Workspace, emphasized that the pricing was meticulously determined by considering customers’ perceived value of the enterprise-level features bundled with the AI enhancements.
Interestingly, Google had already begun accepting preorders for Duet AI for Google Workspace at the $30 price point, though this information was only recently disclosed. Microsoft followed suit by announcing its pricing structure in July.
Despite Google’s primary revenue streams stemming from online advertising and search services, it is carving a niche in the business software arena. Its Google Workspace, which now boasts 10 million paying customers, has been gaining traction. Over a million users have already explored the new AI capabilities through a “trusted tester” program introduced earlier this year.
Duet AI’s functionalities are diverse, ranging from generating text in Gmail and Google Docs, creating images from descriptive text in Google Slides, aiding project planning in Google Sheets, to taking notes in Google Meet for absentees. One of the early adopters of this technology is Adore Me, a lingerie brand, where employees are using Duet AI to craft compelling copy.
Microsoft’s 365 Copilot offers similar features and initiated a paid early access program for 600 clients. With more than 3 billion global users of Google Workspace, the company intends to launch a consumer version of Duet AI in the near future. As AI integration becomes the norm for productivity tools, both Google and Microsoft are racing to offer innovative solutions that cater to businesses’ evolving needs.